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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #363272
Title: Breakfast consumption versus breakfast skipping: The effect on nutrient intake, weight, and cognition

Author
item O'NEIL, CAROL - Louisiana State University Agcenter
item NICKLAS, THERESA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: Nestle Nutrition Workshop
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/5/2018
Publication Date: 3/13/2019
Citation: O'Neil, C.E., Nicklas, T.A. 2019. Breakfast consumption versus breakfast skipping: The effect on nutrient intake, weight, and cognition. Nestle Nutrition Workshop. 91:153-167. https://doi.org/10.1159/000493707.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000493707

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Breakfast has long been promoted as the most important meal of the day. However, the lack of standard definitions of breakfast, breakfast consumers, and breakfast skippers, and the lack of a description of how the meal is "important", especially compared with other meals has hampered the ability to confirm this long-held belief. This review discusses potential definitions of breakfast and breakfast skippers, and how these definitions can affect how researchers, nutrition educators, and policy makers interpret data and make recommendations. Overall, breakfast, especially meals including ready-to-eat cereal, contribute to overall nutrient intake and diet quality. However, the association of breakfast consumption and weight parameters or cognition in children is controversial. Finally, challenges, opportunities, and research gaps with breakfast studies are discussed. The question of whether breakfast is the most important meal of the day remains unanswered.