Overview

• The peer-reviewed paper in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology links habitual breakfast skipping with a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular mortality.
• Researchers used nationally representative NHANES III data collected from 1988 to 1994 and matched participants to the National Death Index for outcomes through 2011.
• Within the cohort, breakfast frequency was reported as never (5.1%), rarely (10.9%), some days (25%), or daily (59%).
• Reports note that regular breakfast skipping has been associated with overweight or obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, coronary heart disease and stroke.
• Experts emphasize the findings are observational and discuss potential physiological mechanisms, as breakfast skipping has grown more common, including an estimated 23.8% of young people who skip daily.