PLOS Medicine has recently published the results of a cross-sectional study conducted among 4116 children in the United Kingdom who were nine and 10 years old. According to the results those kids who ate breakfast daily have a low risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared to those who do not usually eat breakfast.
The differences occur even when the participants have similar characteristics in terms of socioeconomic status, levels of physical activity and amount of body fat
The team of researchers has been led by Angela Donin (of Saint George University), and has included blood tests measuring risk markers, as well asos fasting insulin, glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin levels.
For their part, the children answered questions about how often they ate breakfast, and body measurements were also made. Total, only 74 percent had breakfast every day; and of the rest, six percent do not usually do it.
The study concludes that especially when breakfast includes fiber, it offers less insulin resistance, compared to those who eat cookies or pastries. Insulin resistance is a condition that increases the chances of developing type 2 diabetes (according to this American Diabetes Association Guide).
Therefore, health strategies should not only focus on the importance of daily breakfast, but on the inclusion of fiber foods (fruits, cereals) in the first meal of the day.
This information does not come to me again, since this same year, we had warned that teenagers who eat bad breakfast (many sweets for example) are more likely to develop metabolic syndrome in adulthood.
In Peques and More | Practical guide for planning healthy breakfasts and snacks, A good breakfast after a pleasant awakening, 'What you should know about diabetes in the pediatric age'. Book to download
