Here’s news that may convince some teenage girls to eat breakfast: it might help keep them slim.
A recent study suggests that girls who eat breakfast are slimmer than those who skip a morning meal. Slimmest of all were girls whose breakfast included cereal. Researchers at the Maryland Medical Research Institute said the fiber in cereal, along with other healthy foods including milk and orange juice, may explain the difference.
More than 2,300 girls in California, Ohio and Maryland were tracked while they were between the ages of 9 and 19. The participants were asked once a year what they had eaten during the previous three days. Those who regularly ate breakfast had a body mass index (BMI) that averaged 0.7 units lower than girls who skipped breakfast. Those who ate cereal had a BMI 1.65 units lower. The researchers also said that eating breakfast may simply be a reflection of healthier eating habits in general, including a lower tendency to snack on high calorie foods.
Ref: The study was published in the September 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.