WASHINGTON, July 23 – Men who regularly skip breakfast have a higher risk of heart attack or fatal coronary heart disease, a U.S. study has found.
The study, published in the U.S. journal Circulation, tracked the health outcomes of more than 26,000 men aged between 45 and 82 for 16 years, Xinhua news agency reported.
It found those who regularly skipped breakfast had a 27 percent higher risk of heart attack or death from coronary heart disease compared with those who reported they did not.
Breakfast skippers tended to be younger and were more likely to be smokers, employed full time, unmarried, less physically active and drank more alcohol, said the study.
“Skipping breakfast may lead to one or more risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, which may in turn lead to a heart attack over time,” said Leah Cahill, study lead author and postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Men who reported eating breakfast ate on average one more time per day than those who skipped breakfast. Researchers suggest that those who abstained from breakfast were not eating additional make-up meals later in the day.
While there was some overlap between those who skipped breakfast and those who ate late at night, 76 percent of late-night eaters ate breakfast.
It also found men who reported eating after going to bed had a 55 percent higher coronary heart disease risk than those who did not, but the researchers were less convinced this was a major public health concern as few men in the study reported this behaviour.
“Don’t skip breakfast. Eating breakfast is associated with a decreased risk of heart attacks. Incorporating many types of healthy foods into your breakfast is an easy way to ensure your meal provides adequate energy and a healthy balance of nutrients,” Cahill said.
-BERNAMA
