Eat right when you are young

Eating poor breakfasts may lead to metabolic syndromein adulthood, says a new study

 

A new study has found that consuming a healthy breakfast in formative years can prevent metabolic syndrome in adulthood. The Umea University study revealed that adolescents who ate poor breakfasts displayed a higher incidence of metabolic syndrome 27 years later, compared with those who ate more substantial breakfasts.

Metabolic syndrome is a collective term for factors that are linked to an increased risk of suffering from cardiovascular disorders. Metabolic syndrome encompasses abdominal obesity, high levels of harmful triglycerides, low levels of protective HDL (High Density Lipoprotein), high blood pressure and high fasting blood glucose levels.

The study asked all students completing year nine of their schooling in Lulea in 1981 (Northern Swedish Cohort) to answer questions about what they ate for breakfast. As many as 27 years later, the respondents underwent a health check where the presence of metabolic syndrome and its various subcomponents was investigated.

The study showed that people who had neglected breakfast or ate a poor breakfast had a 68 per cent higher incidence of metabolic syndrome as adults, compared with those who had eaten more substantial breakfasts in their youth.

This conclusion was drawn after taking into account socioeconomic factors and other lifestyle habits of the adolescents in question. Abdominal obesity and high levels of fasting blood glucose levels were the subcomponents which, at adult age, could be most clearly linked with poor breakfast in youth.

The study is published in the journalPublic Health Nutrition. — ANI

 

Courtesy and Reference: The Hindu Dt. 3 February 2014