The impact of breakfast especially ready-to-eat cereals on nutrient intake and health of children

Abstract

Ready-to-eat (RTE) foods including cereals and more prevalent and likely to be consumed today by youth regardless of age. Convenience and companionship have been shown to reduce meal skipping and enhance the consumption of cereal products, which are an economically competitive source of nutrients. Research has shown that age of the child and meal composition determine the amount of daily protein and energy supplied by breakfast. Since the Iowa breakfast studies of the 1960s, researchers have continued to investigate how this meal aids students besides “breaking the fast.” A few well-designed and controlled studies have shown that this complex issue is difficult to discern due to the interactions presented by school breakfast programs and family economics. However, it is clear that children without breakfast must depend on lactate and free fatty acids for energy to a greater extent than those consuming a morning meal. Breakfast skipping has clearly been shown to be a detrimental health practice for all ages of youth resulting in decreased daily intakes of metabolic regulators essential for growth and health. This is particularly true for young low income children who never do “catch up” on their nutrients missed at breakfast as shown by 50% of the 1–3 year old low income children not consuming 70% of the RDA for vitamins A,E,C and iron and zinc. RTE cereals are the best source of daily iron and B vitamins regardless of the family's economic status. Additionally, children consuming a fiber containing RTE cereal have lower plasma cholesterol concentrations than those eating another type of breakfast. The impact of such a consumption pattern on long term health is extremely important as we strive to reduce this measurable health index. Many health professionals have forgotten that schools have the opportunity to provide a majority of a child's meals. Breakfast programs need to be enhanced in many schools so that a RTE cereal, fruit and milk breakfast can aid the child who comes to school without an important tool for academic success, “brain food.”