Excerpt from Essay :

¶ … breakfast "trumps" all other meals for the top spot." It is widely believed that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The likelihood of children who always take breakfast having favorable nutrients like carbohydrates and fiber and less cholesterol and fat is higher than is the case among children who seldom take breakfast. Consuming breakfast is also linked to improved overall lifestyle. Children who do not have breakfast regularly report weaker cardiovascular fitness. These assumptions of the place of breakfast in the health of children are grounded on laboratory research. While the evidence is a bit mixed, available studies indicate that breakfast improves children's cognitive aptitude and performance, especially in the areas of attention and memory. Further, the effect having breakfast causes is more pronounced among undernourished children (Katie Adolphus, Clare L. & Lawton, Louse Dye, 2013).

Research indicates that not having breakfast reduces one's ability to solve problems, attention and their short-memory. It also results in episodic memory among children. On the other hand, having breakfast consistently leads to improved attention, logical reasoning and ability to do arithmetic and solve problems among children. Also, research done on confectionary snacks taken by children indicates that food consumption may affect children's long-term memory (Caroline R. Mahoney, Holly A. Taylor, Robin B. Kanarek, & Priscilla Samuel, 2005).

Appetite Monitoring

Skipping breakfast leads to metabolic, compensatory and hormonal changes in one's appetite later on as the day progresses. Breakfast's nutrient makeup may also influence how much people's diet. This is explained by the fortification with several nutrients. Children consuming such cereals tend to have a higher quality diet. Research shows that children from disadvantaged homes are more likely to skip breakfast than their well-off counterparts. There are, however, other reasons besides economic might that influence whether a child skips breakfast or not. The other reasons why a child might want to forego breakfast include not being hungry, lack of time and the need to lose weight (Heather Harvey, 2005). Refuting arguments why someone might believe breakfast is not the most important, and lunch, a snack, or dinner, may be a better or more important choice.

Some studies refute the importance of breakfast and assert that other meals may be better and have greater impact on a person's health. A possible cause for this line of thinking may be the varying composition of breakfast in various households. For instance, children eating high-energy breakfast showed improved creativity, mathematical ability, physical endurance and short-term memory than their counterparts who had low-energy breakfasts. The difference in impact may be because of the difference in the level of glucose. Glucose has been shown to greatly enhance cognition (Caroline R. Mahoney, Holly A. Taylor, Robin B. Kanarek, & Priscilla Samuel, 2005).

Another factor that should be considered when evaluating energy levels is the likelihood of children who skip breakfast having other less healthy habits like smoking, bad diet and infrequent physical exercise. Those arguing against breakfast being the most important meal say that these habits, besides the fact that they skip breakfast, may be the driver of their low energy levels. While the correlation between skipping breakfast and children developing bad habits is not very apparent, science has shown that the level of willpower a person has is affected by their energy…