Skipping breakfast may be risky to your health

A study conducted by Menzies Research Institute Tasmania (Menzies) has shown that skipping breakfast over a long period of time may increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Skipping breakfast is a fairly common practice with 23 per cent of adults and 10 per cent of children reporting they did not regularly eat breakfast in the 1995 National Nutrition Survey (Australia).

First author and chief investigator of the paper, Menzies PhD student Kylie Smith said results from the new study show that not only is breakfast good for weight management but it is also good for reducing other risk factors for heart disease and diabetes such as blood insulin and cholesterol levels, independently of weight.

“We used data from a large nationwide study with a 20 year follow-up from childhood to early adulthood,” she explained. “Compared to those who ate breakfast both as a child and an adult, those who skipped breakfast on both occasions had a larger waist circumference and had higher fasting insulin, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) which are all risk factors for heart disease and diabetes.”