Recent studies show that children who skip breakfast are not as adept at selecting the information they need to solve problems. Ability to recall and use new information, verbal fluency and attentiveness are hurt by hunger. Earlier studies showed similar effects of skipping breakfast among teenagers and adults. Over all, breakfast skippers were less productive and handled tasks less efficiently than those who ate breakfast. Among both young and elderly adults, skipping breakfast impaired memory and mental performance.
You don't have to be a scientist to realize that it is hard to concentrate on mental challenges and to maintain a pleasant, patient demeanor when your growling stomach signals a fall in blood glucose that follows an overnight fast or the consumption of only a sweet food or coffee or both.
The brain runs on glucose, and when the supply runs low, it is forced to depend on the stored fat, a less efficient source of fuel. Performance questions aside, the goal of many breakfast skippers is to save on calories. However, calories consumed early in the day are least likely to put on pounds, and skipping any meal simply increases the temptation to eat a high calorie snack or overeat at the next meal.
In fact, the leanest people tend to be those who eat three or more meals a day. Studies of teenagers have shown that those those skip breakfast have an intake of calcium and vitamin C that is 40 percent lower than those who eat breakfast.
What's a proper Breakfast? Ideally, breakfast should supply one quarter to one third of the day's protein plus fiber rich complex carbohydrates and a small amount of fat. Simple homemade meals that fulfill these criteria include a whole grain cereal (cold or hot) with fruit and low fat or skim milk: low fat or non fat yogurt fruit and skim milk plus whole wheat toast or cheese.
And parents should provide a good example by eating breakfast themselves.
