Breakfast at dawn—that’s what my dad’s barn cats enjoy each morning. Babycakes and Muffin come running for their kitty chow when he calls. (Yes, their names even sound like breakfast foods.) Dad wouldn’t dream of letting his feline friends miss breakfast for even one day.
Yet across America, about 25 percent of adults make a habit of skipping the morning meal. That’s too bad, because breakfast serves up a bounty of benefits that contribute to good health. When your mom said breakfast is the most important meal of the day, she wasn’t kidding!
Studies show that eating a healthy breakfast:
1. Helps you maintain a healthy weight. Research consistently shows that breakfast eaters tend to be slimmer than breakfast skippers. Skipping breakfast has been linked to a higher prevalence of obesity. Eating a higher percentage of your daily calories at breakfast is linked with lower body mass index (a measure of obesity) and lower weight gain over time.