School breakfasts contribute to healthy weight, study finds

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-03/yu-sbc031616.php

PUBLIC RELEASE: 17-MAR-2016
School breakfasts contribute to healthy weight, study finds
YALE UNIVERSITY

Middle school students who eat breakfast at school -- even if they have already had breakfast at home -- are less likely to be overweight or obese than students who skip breakfast, says a new study by the Community Alliance for Research and Engagement (CARE) at the Yale School of Public Health and the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University of Connecticut.

The findings, published today in the journal Pediatric Obesity, bring new evidence to the ongoing debate over policy efforts to increase daily school breakfast consumption. Previous research has shown that eating breakfast is associated with improved academic performance, better health, and healthy body weight for students. But there have been concerns that a second breakfast at school following breakfast at home could increase the risk of unhealthy weight gain.

"Our study does not support those concerns," said Jeannette Ickovics, the paper's senior author, director of CARE, and a professor at Yale School of Public Health. "Providing a healthy breakfast to students at school helps alleviate food insecurity and is associated with students maintaining a healthy weight."

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