Zee Media Bureau
Washington: People who tend to skip breakfast during their teens are actually putting themselves at the risk of developing metabolic syndrome as they grow old.
Metabolic syndrome is an all-encompassing term for various problems, including abdominal obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar levels, or a resistance to insulin.
According to the latest study, people who neglected to eat breakfast or ate a poor breakfast had a 68 percent higher incidence of metabolic syndrome as adults, compared with those who had eaten more substantial breakfasts in their youth.
For the study, researchers from Umea University in Sweden asked 889 16-year-old students in 1981 about their breakfast habits.
Twenty-seven years later, the researchers brought the participants back to check on their health where the presence of metabolic syndrome and its various subcomponents was investigated.
The researchers found that abdominal obesity and high levels of fasting blood glucose levels were the subcomponents which, at adult age, could be most clearly linked with poor breakfast in youth.
Having a healthy breakfast in formative years can prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke in adulthood.
The study is published in journal Public Health Nutrition.
(With Agency Inputs)
