HOUSTON—Shoppers seeking a healthy breakfast should direct their carts to the cereal aisle, as a new study found children and adolescents who consume ready-to-eat (RTE) cereal for breakfast tend to have better nutrient profiles and weight status (J Am Diet Assoc. June 2010;110(6):869-878). Researchers from the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, analyzed data from the National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2006, covering nearly 10,000 children and adolescents (age 9 to 18 years). They looked at the relationship between breakfast skipping or type of breakfast consumed and issues including nutrient adequacy, nutrient intake and body mass.
Breakfast was a no-go for 20 percent of children and 31.5 percent of adolescents; nutrient adequacy ratio was significantly lower in these subjects than among those who did eat breakfast, and obesity rate (body mass index [BMI] at or above the 95th percentile) was also higher. RTE cereal was the breakfast of choice for 35.9 percent of children and 25.4 percent of adolescents. These subjects had lower intakes of cholesterol and fat, and higher intakes of fiber, carbohydrate and several micronutrients than breakfast skippers or those eating other types of breakfast. The cereal consumers also had the highest mean adequacy ratio (MAR) for micronutrients, and a lower rate of obesity. Adolescents who ate other types of breakfast foods also had a higher rate of obesity compared to RTE cereal consumers.