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Southern Cross Health Features

Welcome to our online health and healthy lifestyle magazine. This information is necessarily of a general nature. You should always seek specific medical advice for treatment appropriate to you.

All in favour of a healthy breakfast

Harvard Medical School researchers have found that skipping the first meal of the day increases the chances of becoming obese, developing diabetes or even having a heart attack.

Their study, presented at the American Heart Association’s 2003 annual conference in Miami, also found that people who eat whole-grain cereals every morning are among those most likely to see the health benefits.

Meanwhile, research carried out at ReadingUniversity in the UK found that children who miss proper breakfasts in favour of sugary snacks end up with reduced reaction times. Conventional breakfasts such as cereals or toast have more “complex carbohydrates”.

Children who don’t have breakfast and fill up on energy drinks and chocolate are consuming more simple carbohydrates such as sugars that give an initial energy boost, but fade quickly afterwards, while complex carbohydrates release energy over a longer period. Sugary snacks also have more calories and contribute to weight gain.