Breakfast - A Healthy Start (SE5)

            When looking through my food journal and those of other classmates, one trend stuck out.  What I saw over and over is that not many students eat breakfast during the week.  I’ve always been told that a breakfast helps make your day better, but that is only a claim.  I’ve been told that eating a healthy breakfast will make a student preform better on an exam, but is it true?  Can eating one small meal before starting the day really have such profound effects?  What about health implications?  I know it is bad to eat right before bed, so is it bad to eat when you get up; to eat while the body is still in its drowsy state? 

            To guide my quest for information I decided to revert to the “Health Reference Center Academic Database.”  The article I chose was about the nutritional benefits of eating breakfast.  They surveyed young to middle aged people, “…the National Diet and Nutrition Survey of adults aged 19-to-64-years(Gibson, 1).”  Since college students are typically 18-22 years old, I figured we applied to this age group, despite the missing age of 18.  The participants were surveyed for a week, which yielded to 12068 potential breakfast eating occasions(Gibson, 1). 

            Taking this 12,068 potential opportunities and dividing it by seven days, yields to 1,724 total participants in the survey.  Taking 64-19 gives 45 total different ages.  Now assuming there were an equal number of people for each age, we have 1,724/45=38.31 people per each age.  Knowing that, we can multiply it by the 5 years of college students included in the study giving us 191.5 out of 1,724 total people fitting the category of college-aged students.  To give an easier idea of what I am talking about, that was roughly 11% of the entire study.  Looking back on this I could have set up a proportion with the ages and number of people, but either way I would have arrived at the same conclusion.  Math set aside, we now have an idea of how relevant this information is. 

            The study found that when people ate breakfast, their diet for the rest of the day was drastically improved.  This makes sense to me for one simple reason.  Eating breakfast gives the body energy from food right away, so it has something to run on.  If the body doesn’t get this energy, it will eventually need it later, and probably much more.  Filling your gas tank half way before you run out will let you go a lot longer than running it to empty, then needing a full tank of gas instantaneously, when you really need it bad.  Eating breakfast with carbs (cereal) proved to result in healthier choices for the rest of the day.  Diets lower in fats, SFAs, and higher in proteins and carbs resulted(Gibson,1).  “Compared with skipping breakfast, micronutrient intakes were marginally higher on days when non-cereal breakfast was consumed but 30-90% higher on days where cereal was consumed.(Gibson, 1).” 

            This study shows that a good breakfast can lead to healthier choices throughout the rest of the day.  A good start leads to a good finish.  Breakfast is better had than not, and in the long run, a good breakfast can impact one’s health a lot.  If a person were to eat cereal every morning, then not crave the foods that are quick energy, but unhealthy.  Their body would most likely receive better food throughout their life.  That being said, before when I calculated that 11% of this study was relevant in age to college students, I no longer think that is relevant.  This is because these students will one day become 64 year old men and women, and healthy eating habits aren’t limited to one age group.

Source Citation

Gibson, S.A., and P. Gunn. "What's for breakfast? Nutritional implications of breakfast habits: insights from the NDNS dietary records." Nutrition Bulletin 36.1 (2011): 78+. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 15 May 2012.