Breakfast

Looking our class' food logs, I noticed that many people skipped breakfast both during the week and on the weekend. I am sure most of us have heard a million times that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and believe that science has backed this statement up however we continue skipping this important meal. Even though a few people seemed to have a schedule in which they did eat breakfast everyday, even in such a small sample size, the habit of skipping breakfast was still noticeable.  Although people know this trend is not healthy, it is interesting to look at why people continue to avoid eating breakfast.

I believe the most obvious reason that people skip breakfast is because their day begins too early in the morning; either their work or school day begins too early for them eat before they become busy. I know that in high school, when school would start as early as 8am or earlier for sports, I physically could not eat before heading to school because it made me feel sick. Like I did, some people choose to skip breakfast because their commitments begin at an early hour before they have any appetite for food. Now, in college, I usually do not have class this early in the morning and do have an appetite before class, but sleeping in or finishing homework before class is often more important than eating for me. I could easily sleep right up until the last minute before class starts unless I set an alarm and plan my morning in order to leave time to get food before class. I think this is the case for many people, and explains why a few people did not list any breakfast foods on their food logs.

Another reason people may skip breakfast is in an attempt to lose weight. Breakfast may seem like an easy meal to skip because you are less hungry in the morning and may seem like a good idea for some people. Research often suggests however, that eating breakfast leads to receiving healthier nutritional value in what one eats in a day and can also lead to a healthier weight and BMI. In a study done on Korean adults it was shown that “breakfast eaters” in general had a higher energy intake, but that their diets included less fats and unhealthy foods than the diets of people who rarely ate breakfast or did not eat breakfast at all. The article noted that “The ‘Rare breakfast eater’ group had an inadequate intake of micronutrients” which supported the idea that skipping breakfast would have negative effects on diet quality. Although people may skip breakfast with the idea that it is an effective way to diet, I think this study gives a good example of how this idea can backfire and actually have adverse effects on health.

Whether skipping breakfast because one values sleep more than eating or because they think it will help them lose weight, this unhealthy practice remains a trend despite scientific evidence that it is not good for the body. I don’t find it is very surprising that people do this even though they know it is not healthy. People do many things they know are not healthy when they seem to be an easier or more exciting alternative to the healthy action and skipping breakfast is just one example.

MIn, Chanyang, Hwayoung Noh, Yun-Sook Kang, Hea Jin Sim, Hyun Wook, Won O. Song, Jihyun Yoon, Young-Hee Park, and Hyojee Joung. "Skipping Breakfast Is Associated with Diet Quality and Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors of Adults." Nutrition Research and Practice (2011). Print.