Skipping breakfast may affect children's intake of key nutrients

Children who do not maintain a regular habit of having breakfast may not be consuming the daily amounts of key nutrients for growth and development, according to a study released Thursday by King's College London (KCL).

The study led by researchers at KCL looked at food diaries collected for a previous survey from a group of 802 children aged 4 to 10 years and 884 children aged 11 to 18 years in Britain.

Breakfast was considered in this study as having consumed over 100 calories between 6:00 and 9:00 in the morning.

The team found that children who ate breakfast every day had higher daily intakes of key nutrients such as folate, calcium, iron, and iodine than children who skipped breakfast.

For example, 31.5 percent of those who skipped breakfast did not meet even the lower nutrient intake of iron recommended by the British government, compared to only 4.4 percent of children who ate breakfast.

Meanwhile, the study also showed that in younger children (4 and 10 years old), on days when they ate, they had higher intakes of folate, calcium, vitamin C and iodine compared to their breakfast-skipping days.

"This study provides evidence that breakfast is key for parents to ensure that their children are getting the nutrition they need," said senior author of the study Dr. Gerda Pot.

The study has been published in the British Journal of Nutrition.