Supermarket shelves are full of quick fixes, including cereal bars, Pop Tarts and various other microwavable breakfast items.Moms today are bombarded with commercials touting the latest and quickest way to feed their kids in the morning. However, studies have shown that what kids eat for breakfast can make all the difference in their long-term health.
"It's hard enough to get kids to wake up for school in the morning, let alone get them motivated enough to carve out the time for a healthy breakfast."
Previous research provides evidence that kids who eat breakfast on a regular basis are much more likely to meet recommended intakes of vitamins and minerals than children who don't eat breakfast regularly. Researchers think this might be attributed to the consumption of breakfast cereals, many of which are fortified with essential nutrients and provide a good source of dietary fiber. Research also shows that kids who eat cereal for breakfast consume significantly less fat and cholesterol than children who eat other foods for breakfast. However, despite these findings, less is known about the relationship between the consumption of cereal and body mass index in children.
In this particular study, researchers analyzed data from a 10-year longitudinal cohort study of more than 2,300 adolescent girls who were between 9 and 10 years old at the start of the study. Dietary habits were tracked annually, using a three-day food questionnaire documenting the frequency of breakfast consumption and whether cereal was part of the kids' breakfast choices. Researchers also tracked the children's intake of dietary fiber, fat, calcium, iron, folic acid, vitamin C and zinc.
Researchers concluded that, "compared with girls who ate cereal on 0 days, girls who ate cereal on 1, 2 or 3 days were 0.93, 0.90 and 0.87 times as likely to be at risk of overweight; that is, eating cereal on 1 or more days resulted in a reduction in risk of overweight" Researchers also found that "a similar trend was seen for breakfast consumption, with those consuming breakfast on 3 days having lover BMIs than girls who skipped breakfast on all or most days."
In the study's conclusion, the researchers pointed out that their analysis "clearly demonstrated that cereal consumption was predictive of lower BMI" in adolescent females. They also stated that cereal consumption "had positive effects on nutrient intake in girls, resulting in diets significantly lower in fat and cholesterol."
To help kids maintain a healthy weight and promote good dietary habits, make sure they eat a healthy breakfast preferably cereal.
Barton BA, Eldridge AL, Thompson D, et al. The relationship of breakfast and cereal consumption to nutrient intake and body mass index: The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study. Journal of the American Dietetic Association September 2005;105:1383-1389.
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