According to the 1995 National Nutrition Survey, sitting down to have breakfast has become a common problem in many Australian families, since these people are under constant pressure to be on time for work and school (Williams 2007). The issue of skipping breakfast has attracted considerable media attention, for it has been found to cause various detrimental effects, such as poor cognitive brain performance, low basal metabolic rate, and increased snack temptation by mid-morning of foods that are generally high in salt, sugar and fat. This may subsequently lead to high blood cholesterol and heart diseases on the long run (Heath 2004). Of all other concerns, breakfast skippers often fail to meet the recommended daily intakes of nutrients, necessary for adolescents' biochemical physical growth and brain development (Zealman 2007). Therefore, breakfast is important for it provide the body with energy and nutrients to perform effectively throughout the day, as well as assistance to weight maintenance. This essay aims to elucidate the benefits of eating breakfast and its importance towards adolescent's wellbeing.
Breakfast provides adequate nutrient intake which helps the growth and development demands of teenagers, which are rarely replenished by other meals of the day (Liebman 1995). At this transitional time, maintaining the optimum nutrition is very imperative (Proulx 2006).Those who skip breakfast tend to miss the intake of calcium, iron, dietary fibre, and vitamins such as niacin and riboflavin. This is evident in Appendix A and B, where all the mean daily nutrient intakes of breakfast eaters are higher than skippers, for both boys and girls (Williams 2007). Similarly, respondents from Corinda State High School (2010) who eat breakfast, generally consume breakfast cereals with milk (26%) and bread/toasts (25%) at home (64%), which are good sources of complex carbohydrate, fibre and calcium [Refer to Appendix C and D]. Research has shown that breakfast skippers are likely to be at risk in the future of long-term health problems like osteoporosis (lack in calcium), anaemia (lack in iron) and colon cancers (low in fibre) ('Breakfast' 2010). Generally speaking, better nutrition means better confrontation to health problems and maintenance of healthy body. Thus breakfast should be consumed on a daily basis to sustain life and promote good wellbeing.
According to Peter Williams, PhD from University of Wollongong (2007), breakfast provides roughly 12-19% of a person's daily energy; yet, approximately 21% of students at Corinda State High School acknowledge missing breakfast [Refer to Appendix E]. This is a concern because it is expected that these students will face poor attention span and reduced performance in tasks requiring concentration (Saxelby 2006). For the body to function effectively throughout the day the brain requires a constant demand of glucose (Pierre et al 2000). Although the brain comprises 20% of the body mass, it actually expends 25% of the body's store of energy (Saxelby 2006). To achieve constant supply of glucose, carbohydrate from a meal needs to be chemically digested into smaller fragments (glucose) before being absorbed into the bloodstream to generate efficient energy ('How We Turn Glucose into Energy' 2006) [Refer to Appendix F]. If breakfast is not consumed, the body literally undertakes 'starvation mode', in which the metabolic rate is set relatively low to endure the daily basis (Spruce 2009). As a result, adolescents who avoid breakfast often have difficulty coping with school and lack in fitness since the drop in blood sugar level make normal brain function difficult (Magistretti et al. 2000). It should, however, be noted that skipping breakfast has deleterious effects upon various aspects of cognitive functioning like memory, problem solving ability and creativity (Faculty of Harvard Medical School 2006). Neurotransmitters, which are responsible for memory, learning, mood and behaviour, are made of amino acids (Australian Academy of Science 2002). Vitamins and minerals are required to convert these amino acids into powerful neuromessengers for the brain to function with speed and efficiency (Perretta 2001). Hence, vital nutrients intake- which can be achieved by eating breakfast is critical for the brain to perform effectively at peak thinking performance. Jumpstarting the body's metabolism by eating breakfast, memory recall and frequency of physical activity could be enhanced.
A survey conducted by Corinda State High School shows that the major reason of skipping breakfast is lack of time (40%) [Refer to Appendix G]. This is because teenagers are under constant pressure of being late to school, due to sleeping in, accordingly to the National MBF Health watch Survey (Research Australia 2009). Research have investigated that teenagers prefer an extra 20 minutes of sleep, a shower and some computer time instead of sitting down to have breakfast ('Eating Breakfast Keeps Teens Lean' 2005). Although sleeping in assists teenagers to be more alert and be less stressed; it is still required of adolescents to eat breakfast, to allow the body to replenish its liver glycogen levels, and provide proficient energy throughout the day (Stibich 2009).Therefore, it is critical for adolescents to find the time to consume food in the morning rather than arriving to school early and face poor concentration levels and physical performance in class.
Surprising as it sounds, eating breakfast is a good opportunity to get ahead on low-fat eating. Among breakfast skippers; an attempt to lose weight is one of the reasons of omitting breakfast since adolescents think that this decision reduces energy input which eventually leads to weight reduction (Zealman 2007). Not having that morning breakfast, increases levels of a hunger-initiating hormone called ghrelin, which is released from the stomach in reaction to low metabolic rate [Refer to Appendix H] (Kim et al 2003). According to the Endocrine Society in San Diego, ghrelin can counteract hunger-supressing hormones like leptin, insulin and peptide YY (PYY) from reaching the hypothalamus (brain component that regulates hunger), which causes the appeal of high kilojoule convenience food to be a temptation by mid morning (Riskind et al 2010, Smith 2004) [Refer to Appendix I]. As a result, skipping breakfast leads to weight gain rather than weight loss. Frequent consumption of empty kilojoules foods is clearly not designed for a healthy diet, since the saturated fats, salt and high sugar content from these foods could contribute to debilitating threats of not only obesity, but also tooth decay, stroke, hypertension, and coronary heart diseases (American Dental Association 2004, Radecki et al n.d.). Interestingly, there is evidence that the body's ability to burn food is greatest in the morning, and decelerates as the day progresses, accordingly to Professor Loretta Douns (Douns, L. n.d). Above all, breakfast is a good start in the morning to maintain healthy well-being and weight for it avoids impulsive binges of junk foods and enhances physical activity to balance the kilojoules.
Skipping breakfast can be visually represented as a car without petrol. Starting the day with a healthy breakfast is an excellent decision to refuel the metabolism from a 10 hour sleep. By simply eating a breakfast meal high in complex carbohydrate, low in fat with other vitamins and minerals, it can have transformative difference on problem solving abilities, alertness, and better overall diet quality. Eating breakfast is the best way to sustain good weight and wellbeing since it reduces frequency of over consuming empty kilojoules foods and, provides energy to perform physical activity more regularly to balance the day's kilojoule. Still, there are about 1 in 5 people who continually skip breakfast, accordingly to Corinda State High School 2010 survey. It is required by adolescents to have a habit of consuming a nutritious breakfast everyday to easily attain the advancements listed above. However there are barriers needed to be overcome before achieving this goal, such as time, cost of food, and proximity to school.
To assist with the accomplishment of this goal, the importance of breakfast should be promoted widely to schools and the public community. This can be done by intervening a breakfast unit in the school curriculum in younger grades, and having a school breakfast club to allow students to acknowledge that eating breakfast does not only provide sustained energy, but also essential nutrients and assistance to losing weight. It is also suggested that schools should educate students the short and long term health effects of skipping breakfast, to emphasise that breakfast is beneficial. It is also suggested that schools should educate students to manage time wisely so that students can wake up earlier to have breakfast and travel to school in time to reduce pressure. What parents can do at home is to organise the breakfast meal the night before, and make breakfast a family affair to encourage children to eat breakfast. Furthermore, health organisations should place a comprehensible television advertisement at children viewing time, specifically in the morning, to bring across the message to children and adolescents that breakfast is extremely momentous for the day's activity and for the future ahead.
