The most important meal of the day, as breakfast is often claimed to be, is also the one most likely to be omitted or pushed back to later in the day. Don't, say medics. — Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
The most important meal of the day, as breakfast is often claimed to be, is nonetheless probably the one most likely to be missed or pushed back.
Hit the snooze button one time too many and then it is a case running late for work and maybe a flailing half-sprint to try to catch a bus. In between comes a quick shower and dribble-inducing slug or two of coffee before scrambling out the door.
Bad move, according to doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital and Izmir Institute of Technology, who found starting the day without breakfast to be "consistently associated with having physical and mental health conditions such as depression, fatigue and oral health problems."
"Meal timing, particularly later breakfast, shifts with age and may reflect broader health changes in older adults, with implications for morbidity and longevity," the researchers say, in a paper published in Communications Medicine, part of the Nature group of science journals.
The team - part of the Mass General Brigham network of medical researchers - looked at data for around 3,000 British adults whose eating habits and health were tracked for two decades.
"Individuals genetically predisposed to characteristics associated with being a night owl tended to eat meals at later times," the team says, hinting that it is better, as the old saying goes, to be early to bed and early to rise.
Older people appear more likely to eat breakfast later in the day, the team say - in turn putting themselves at risk of related health problems.
"Encouraging older adults in having consistent meal schedules could become part of broader strategies to promote healthy aging and longevity," says Hassan Dashti of Massachusetts General. – dpa
