Not eating breakfast may affect children's mental health

A recent study in Frontiers in Nutrition suggests that children who eat a healthy breakfast at home have better mental health. While previous studies have reported on the important role of a nutritious breakfast, this is the first study of breakfast-related effects in children. The results provide valuable insights and recommendations for parents and their children.

The findings suggest that not only is eating breakfast important, but also where children eat breakfast and what they eat matters. Skipping breakfast or eating breakfast away from home may increase the occurrence of psychosocial behavioral problems in children/adolescents.

In this study, researchers analyzed data from the 2017 Spanish National Health Survey. This survey included questionnaires on breakfast habits and children's psychosocial health, which included characteristics such as self-esteem, mood and anxiety. The questionnaire was completed by the child's parents or guardians, and the results included a total of 3,772 Spanish residents aged 4-14 years.

The most important result found by the research team was that eating breakfast away from home was almost as harmful as not eating breakfast at all. The authors suggest that this may be because meals away from home are usually less nutritious than those prepared at home.

The results also showed that coffee, milk, tea, chocolate, cocoa, yogurt, bread, toast, cereal and pastries were all associated with a lower incidence of behavioral problems. Surprisingly, eggs, cheese and ham were associated with a higher risk of such problems.

The findings emphasize the need not only to make breakfast part of a healthy lifestyle, but also to eat breakfast at home. In addition, to prevent psychosocial health problems, a breakfast that includes dairy and/or cereal and minimizes certain animal foods high in saturated fat/cholesterol can help reduce psychosocial health problems in children.