Poor Breakfast Habits in Childhood Linked to Metabolic Syndrome in Adulthood

You know how your parents badger you about eating a complete and healthy breakfast? Well, according to a recent study conducted at Umea University in Sweden, they may be right to do so.

The study was published in Public Health Nutrition (a Cambridge University journal) and revealed that poor breakfast habits among adolescents eventually led to a higher incidence of metabolic syndrome when they were adults (approximately 27 years later).

According to the American Heart Association on their website, "metabolic syndrome is a combination of factors that multiply a person's risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Almost 35% of American adults are affected." It specifically encompasses abdominal obesity, high levels of harmful triglycerides, low levels of protective High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), high blood pressure, and high fasting blood glucose levels.

Students at the Northern Swedish Cohort were asked to answer questions about their breakfast habits upon completing their ninth year of schooling back in 1981. They then participated in a health check 27 years later where the metabolic syndrome symptoms were investigated.

The results showed that youths who either didn't eat breakfast or ate a poor breakfast had a 68% higher likelihood of being diagnosed with metabolic syndrome as an adult, compared with the youths who ate balanced breakfasts.

The study's primary author, Maria Wennberg, stated in this EurekAlert! article, "Further studies are required for us to be able to understand the mechanisms involved in the connection between poor breakfast and metabolic syndrome, but our results and those of several previous studies suggest that a poor breakfast can have a negative effect on blood sugar regulation."

The study took into account socioeconomic factors as well as other habits of the adolescents that participated. This allowed the authors to fully isolate the subjects who simply did not eat substantial breakfasts.

To read more about the study, click here.