Cold Cereal For Breakfast May Not Be Bad

A recent study comparing children who skipped breakfast with those who eat cold cereal and those who eat "other breakfasts" indicates that the cereal eaters have healthier diets.

It was found that breakfast skippers tended to eat more snack foods during the day with higher calorie content. They ended up with larger waists and higher BMIs (body mass index) than their cereal eating counterparts. Twenty-two percent of breakfast skippers were overweight compared to just under 20% of the "other breakfast" eaters and 15% of the cereal eaters.

Kids who ate ready-to-eat cereals had more favorable nutrient intake profiles and healthier weights that either the breakfast skippers or kids who ate "other breakfasts."

Researchers found that 20% of children between the ages of 9 and 13 and nearly a third of kids from 14 to 18 were skipping breakfast.

So the bottom line appears to be, don't worry about your children eating cold cereal for breakfast. Eating cereal appears to be healthier than not eating breakfast or eating other types of breakfast food.