A Nutritional Epidemiologic Investigation of 642 New York City Children

Breakfast Type, Daily Nutrient Intakes and Vitamin and Mineral Status of French Children, Adolescents and Adults

“…Whereas other studies have previously reported multiple associations between breakfast consumption and improved dietary intakes [6,9,[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38], the present study is among the first to report a relationship between breakfast parameters and selected biochemical assays of nutritional status. Serum vitamin B1 and B2 status as well as serum beta-carotene levels varied as a function of breakfast size and were influenced, moreover, by the consumption of ready-to-eat (RTE) cereals.…”

“…Several studies suggest that the consumption of an inadequate breakfast may contribute to dietary inadequacies, if other meals fail to provide the necessary vitamins and minerals [6,9,[33][34][35][36][37][38]. In our study, consumption of higher-energy breakfasts was associated with regular use of RTE cereals.…”

The role of breakfast in diet adequacy of the U.S. adult population.

“…Further, over one-quarter of the males and females ages 18 to 24 years and 25 to 34 years consumed no or only one breakfast during the three surveyed days, while approximately 23 and 21% of the males and females ages 35 to 49 years regularly skipped breakfast. Previous research has indicated that omission of breakfast was a factor contributing to dietary inadequacies [27][28][29]. Thus, it was anticipated that approximately one-quarter of this sample population had inadequate intake levels of one or more nutrients.…”

“…This age group has generally not been labeled as an "at risk" population segment by nutrition and health professionals. Further, though several studies have examined the influence of breakfast habits on the nutritional status of children, adolescents, and the elderly [24][25][26][27][28][29][30], no recent investigations have evaluated the breakfast habits of the major part of the U.S. work force, adults ages 18 to 49 years. This is somewhat surprising since several studies have indicated that omission of breakfast and/or consumption of an inadequate breakfast were factors that contributed to dietary inadequacies [24,[27][28][29][30].…”

Malnutrition, learning, and intelligence.

“…Huenemann also found that among junior and senior high school students studied over a two year period 90 per cent of the Negro teen-agers had irregular eating habits and many appeared to be "fending for themselves." Christakis et al (1968) who carried out the first dietary study of New York school children in 20 years found that in an economically depressed district that the diets of 71 per cent of children examined were poor and that less than 7 per cent had excellent diets. Moreover, his data demonstrated that if the child's family were on welfare the likelihood of his having a poor diet was much increased.…”