Breakfast is advised for kids and teenagers by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in order to promote better health, better nutrition, better memory, better test results, and greater attention spans. If breakfast is skipped, it may be more difficult to maintain a balance of nutrients throughout the day.
Regular breakfast consumption among young individuals has been linked favorably to scholastic success and school performance.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that over 20% of children in the U.S. skip breakfast. Additionally, teenagers of all socioeconomic statuses and kids from lower-income households are more prone to skip breakfast.
A recent study involving children and teenagers from Spain has discovered that having breakfast at home is also linked to better psychological health. The journal Frontiers in Nutrition just published the findings.
Previous research has suggested that eating breakfast is especially important for young people, as it fuels them for the school day. Breakfast deprivation has an impact on psychosocial health.
"The association between skipping breakfast and psychosocial health problems has been previously described in the literature in some scientific articles. However, the fact that eating breakfast away from home is associated with greater psychosocial health problems is a novel aspect of our study."
Dr. José Francisco López-Gil, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain and lead author of the study, said.
A new Spanish study has discovered that eating a balanced breakfast at home may improve children's and adolescents' psychosocial health.
The researchers then investigated the effects that various foods might have on psychosocial health.
"Not eating certain food groups, such as dairy or cereals, was associated with greater psychosocial health problems, while not eating others (e.g., processed meat) was associated with lower psychosocial problems," Dr. López-Gil said.
Dr. López-Gil also mentioned other factors that could influence psychosocial health: One possible explanation for these findings is that eating at home (usually with family members) provides a formal [or] informal time for parents [or] guardians to connect with their children's emotional well-being.
According to a 2007 study, eating a breakfast rich in tryptophan, which is present in dairy, oats, nuts, and seeds, may improve children's sleep quality and mental health. Dairy products also include vitamin D which has been linked to lower levels of anxiety.
Breakfasting on high fiber foods, such as wholegrain bread and cereal, fruit, nuts, and seeds is especially advantageous because dietary fiber, which is crucial for gut health, is associated with a lower risk of depression.
