Fitting a full breakfast into a child's rushed morning routine can be challenging, but it's more important than you might think. Skipping breakfast does not just impact long-term health; it also takes a toll on happiness. A study has revealed that children who regularly miss the morning meal are less likely to be happy in life.
In the large-scale study involving 150,000 children and adolescents across 42 countries in the world, researchers from the Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), England, and Universidad de las Americas, Mexico, investigated the link between the regularity of breakfast consumption and life satisfaction. The results published in BMC Nutrition Journal suggest "a nearly linear relationship" between a higher frequency of eating breakfast and greater life satisfaction.
"The highest life satisfaction score was identified in participants who had breakfast daily, whereas the lowest life satisfaction score was observed in children who never had breakfast," the news release stated.
The study involved participants from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children study (2017/2018) that used nationally representative samples of children and adolescents between 10 and 17, attending school. The participants were asked how often they had a full breakfast - more than just a glass of milk or fruit juice. Their life satisfaction was then measured on a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 representing the highest quality of life and 0 the lowest.
"Our study was wide-ranging and found a consistent association between the frequency of breakfast and life satisfaction, and there are several potential reasons for this. There have been previous studies that show low mood among adolescents who have not eaten breakfast and also higher instances of anxiety, stress, and depression. Moreover, consuming an adequate breakfast provides the necessary energy and nutrients for optimal cognitive functioning and enhances concentration, memory, and learning ability," senior author Lee Smith, Professor of Public Health at Anglia Ruskin University, said in the news release.
"Another reason could be the mix of vitamins and minerals that we get from our daily breakfast, and not regularly getting those may result in lower life satisfaction over time. A regular routine that includes breakfast can also bring structure and a positive tone to the rest of the day," Smith added.
However, the researchers noticed inconsistencies in life satisfaction scores between countries, indicating potential socio-economic factors can influence the results. While they observed the highest level of life satisfaction among the children who ate breakfast every day in Portugal, the lowest life satisfaction was seen in children from Romania who never ate breakfast.
