Breakfast as the term denotes (break+fast) is breaking the fast! Getting up in the morning after almost after 8-12 hours of the dinner, the last meal, our stomach is absolutely empty and, for sure,we will not be able to work on an empty stomach; hence the concept of breakfast! …as well as the adage ‘breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper’ because throughout the day stomach never remains empty for so long a period.

This quote should help us remember the importance of breakfast in our daily lives.
It simply means that we should eat full balanced and healthy food in the morning without any exceptions.Ideally, we should eat breakfast within 2 hours of waking up. Eating breakfast is just like recharging your body and brain first thing in the morning!

This explains why corporate breakfasts are real ‘heavy’ with plenty of nutrition, are available from 6 onwards and executive lunches are usually a light affair – soup, salad or sandwich and a fruit.

As the day advances further we should keep in our mind that we should eat light food and at night we should consume as light a meal as possible (nutritious, of course).

Many of the youth avoid breakfast either because there is no time or to lose weight. But let us clarify, it is a wrong way to start a day – very unhealthy – as it boomerangs on our health later in life. It has also been noted that those who avoid breakfast are bound to eat more junk (low nutrition and high calorie snacks) food later in the day!

Why is breakfast of so much of importance?
• Adults need breakfast in order to keep pace with the hectic day ahead.
• Children need it for their normal development and growth. Several studies have shown that children who do not eat the morning meal are lazy, tired, restless or irritable.
• Both kids and adults, who have breakfast regularly,are inclined to weigh less than the persons who skip their morning meals.
• Studies have shown that people who have healthy breakfast have reduced hunger later during the day and those who have skipped it tend to eat more at the lunch.
• Eating breakfast has many health benefits like it reduces obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.

What are the health effects of breakfast?
According to nutritional experts people who skip breakfast are more likely to have problems with concentration, metabolic changes, weight and heart related health. The improvement in concentration, thinking etc has been proven among kids but is not so significant among adults. The link between skipping breakfast and increased weight is likely behavioural—tendency to compensate with snacks and/or eating more quantity of food later—and we know that food items are healthy only in moderation. Some opinions claim that skipping breakfast may even lead to higher chances of getting diabetes as well as heart coronary disease.

According to the American Dietetic Association, children who eat breakfast perform better, both, in the classroom and on the playground, with better concentration, problem-solving skills and eye-hand coordination.

Dr Suman Rao, an MBBS, 20 years of practice in family medicine, has won awards for presenting papers on cases and over 5 years of training claims accessors on cases.