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A Possible Penalty for Poor Dietary Choices

Young people who skip breakfast, or eat a poor quality breakfast, may be at greater risk for developing Metabolic Syndrome in adulthood.

Metabolic Syndrome is a condition characterized by central obesity, hypertension, and adverse glucose and insulin metabolism, that may progress to type-2 diabetes.  Maria Wennberg, from Umea University (Sweden), and colleagues asked all students completing year 9 of their schooling in Lulea (Sweden) in 1981 (Northern Swedish Cohort) to answer questions about what they ate for breakfast. Twenty-seven years later, the respondents underwent a health check where the presence of metabolic syndrome and its various subcomponents was investigated. The data revealed that those young people who neglected to eat breakfast,, or ate a poor quality breakfast, had a 68% higher incidence of Metabolic Syndrome as adults, as compared with those who had eaten more substantial breakfasts in their youth. The lead author comments that: “our results and those of several previous studies suggest that a poor breakfast can have a negative effect on blood sugar regulation.”

Wennberg M, Gustafsson PE, Wennberg P, Hammarstrom A.  “Poor breakfast habits in adolescence predict the metabolic syndrome in adulthood.”  Public Health Nutr. 2014 Jan 28:1-8.

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