BMC Nutrition Journal: Skipping breakfast leads to children's dissatisfaction with life, study suggests

Researchers from the UK's Anglia Ruskin University and Mexico’s Universidad de las Americas have found that skipping breakfast can lead to lower satisfaction with life in children and adolescents aged 10 to 17. The results of the respective study were published in the BMC Nutrition Journal.

More than 150,000 children and adolescents aged 10 to 17 from 42 countries participated in this research. The researchers asked the subjects to talk about their eating habits and to rate their level of well-being. As a result, it was found that the habit of eating breakfast regularly is correlated with the level of satisfaction with life; children who ate breakfast daily were more likely to report living happy and fulfilled lives.

Levels of satisfaction with life varied across countries. For example, children in Portugal who ate breakfast every day showed the highest levels of satisfaction with life, while people in Romania who skipped their first meal of the day had the lowest scores.

Researchers have also found that there are differences in the level of well-being even among those who eat breakfast regularly. Children and teenagers in England were more likely than others to describe themselves as unhappy, second only to volunteers from Romania, Hungary, Germany, and Austria.

Researchers have noted that having breakfast regularly not only provides the body with the necessary energy and nutrients, but also helps improve cognitive function: learning skills and concentration.

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