According to ABC.com, in 2012, there were over 108 million Americans who tried to lose weight often using a wide variety of tactics ranging from reducing meal portions to flat out fasting for various periods of time. However, there has been a correlation that has been arisen in previous years between those who eat breakfast and a reduction in their weight and body mass index. In 1992, Vanderbilt University conducted a randomized control study showing that reversing normal breakfast habits, whether by eating or not eating, correlated with the individuals weight loss ability. According to a pole taken by npd.com, in 2011 there are over 31 million Americans who skip breakfast. All of these individuals are more susceptible to weight gain and if they wanted to make an attempt to lose weight, are more likely to struggle according to these correlations.
However, like we have learned throughout the year, correlation does not equal causation. There is the chance that although the study done in Vanderbilt could be a valid point of reference as to whether or not there eating br
eakfast can reduce the chances of obesity, there could always be that chance of a third variable. For example, certain individuals that were being observed could of been working out more than others while not at the research center or their breakfast could of been a healthier option as compared to others.
There is also the chance of an outlier. There are people in this world who are luckier than others in the sense that they may have a faster metabolism which enables them to eat more or food that are not considered the be the healthiest and still manage to not put on as much weight as others from said foods.
So although there may be a correlation between those who eat breakfast and obesity, there are too many factors that could come into play which should lead one to think that this correlation does not equal causation.
Works Cited:
http://abcnews.go.com/cgi-bin/login?cmd=redirect&arubalp=7a0b926e-c9d6-4a74-b402-e83fa05590
https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/pr_111011b/
People always say breakfast is the most important meal of the day and for whatever reason people treat it like the least important. Seeing that 31 million Americans skip breakfast just proves that statement. The benefits of breakfast are huge and can be seen here on WebMD . The article also brings up many good healthy options for breakfast which would also be a big help in the attempt of defeating weight gain.
I know a lot of people who always skip breakfast. I try to reason with them and say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Starting your day off right with nutritious breakfast foods is essential to a happy and healthy life. If an individual is trying to lose weight the worst thing that they can do is not eat all, this is because eating less does not create the need to burn body fat. Instead, it creates the need for the body to slow down. I can’t quite rap my head around why people would want to skip breakfast, its personally my favorite meal of the day. That being said, I really enjoyed this post because it clearly encompassed a lot of the concepts we learned about in class. You made it very clear to the audience that correlation does not equal causation, and that there is always a possibility of developing a third variable. Very well done! You might want to check out this link talking about 8 Health Risks of skipping breakfast: http://www.mdhil.com/8-health-reasons-you-should-never-skip-breakfast/
Eating breakfast actually does help prevent weight gain and is a much healthier alternative to skipping breakfast. Many people believe that by skipping breakfast, they can lose weight. In theory, it makes sense. By cutting out an entire meal, you are cutting out a third of the calories you would normally intake over the course of a day. However, that is not the case. By eating breakfast, even if it is just a small portion, helps maintain a healthy weight as it kick starts your metabolism for the day. Furthermore, those who do not eat breakfast tend to over eat later in the day to make up for the calories they did not eat earlier in the day. Not only is it unhealthy to skip breakfast because of your need for energy, but it also does the opposite of what those looking to lose weight expect. Here is a link to an article that outlines the specifics and science behind eating breakfast and weight loss!
Last semester, I took a nutrition class here at Penn State. In that class, I learned that when we eat a good breakfast, it reduces the chances of us binge eating later on in the day, which can indeed cause weight gain and eventual obesity if it gets too out of hand. When we don’t eat breakfast, we often become more hungry as the day gets on. We then are more likely to eat more than we would regularly decide to eat due to our increased hunger. This is why we can indeed gain weight if we decide to skip breakfast, which to me does not seem like a very intelligent decision.
I have always heard that it was really bad to skip breakfast. I also have heard that it was more important to eat a protein packed breakfast with smaller meals throughout the day. As you said, metabolism definitely plays a role in affecting weight gain. I think this would be a great experiment in which the experimental group skips breakfast and the control group eats breakfast. To help manage third variables, all of the participants would eat the same lunch and dinner portions and workout for the same amount of time. I would be very interested in seeing the results!
Really interesting post! I have always wondered the same thing and if there were a clear correlation between weight gain and skipping meals. I think it was key that you acknowledged third variables like exercise and what the actual food is because if you eat fruit for breakfast vs a poptart; the sugar in your body metabolizes differently, leaving the one with the poptart at greater risk in gaining weight. That being said, really well done! You might be interested in reading more about it at this link: http://www.webmd.com/diet/20090615/skip-breakfast-get-fat
Well done!
I am in shock that over 30 million people skip breakfast. I personally think people should eat breakfast just because it is not healthy to skip a meal, and I feel like when I eat a good breakfast (instead of a granola bar or something). Before AP exams or finals in high school, my mom would always make me a great breakfast (eggs, bacon, toast, all that good stuff) and I just always felt better going into my exam. Even if there is little to no health benefit coorelating weight loss with eating breakfast (see Elyssa’s comment), I think it could just be mentally beneficial. I wrote a blog this blogging period about dressing for success, and I think eating could be the same way (not for weight loss, but just overall feeling better about yourself). I think when you feel better overall, you perform better in life and feel more productive. It seems like there would be an obvious coorelation with eating ang increased energy levels and happiness boosts. Here is my blog I wrote about dressing for success too: https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa15/2015/10/05/dress-for-success/
I don’t know why I hadn’t thought about this topic earlier? It always interested me because so many people believe in the notion than breakfast can help prevent continuous weight gain. All throughout high school, every morning, I would have a pretty healthy and hefty breakfast; couldn’t imagine my days with out it. Although, I had many friends who just never ate breakfast before school. I didn’t know how they did it. This study is very capable of being easily tested because you can gather a control group and an experimental group and observe the results over a long period of time to see who is gaining weight. However, you are definitely right when stating that third variables are a huge factor in this topic. Work out regiments, what specifically people are eating for breakfast (fruit vs. a toaster strudel?) or overall metabolic tendencies, these all contribute and can interfere with clear experimental results. Awesome topic, though.
I have also heard that skipping breakfast isn’t beneficial because it just causes people to eat more food at lunch and dinner (and these foods tend to be more fattening than breakfast foods.) According to this article on the Huffington Post, breakfast can “reduce hunger and cravings, improve cognition, and reduce your risk for obesity and metabolic syndrome.” In a study conducted, only 4% of people who did’t eat breakfast could keep weight that the previously lost off. Have you tried looking in to what the best types of foods are to eat during breakfast? According to another article on the Huffington Post, it’s best to have foods with high protein, like eggs, for breakfast, because this will fill you up and prevent you from snacking throughout the day.
I discovered a blog written for the New York Times http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/myths-surround-breakfast-and-weight/?_r=0 about how evidence on not eating breakfast actually has “little or no effect” on weight gain, continuously gets overlooked due to the many studies about how eating breakfast makes one loose weight. I have always thought that eating breakfast is the way to loose weight and essentially be healthier, but their is evidence showing both sides of this idea. More research, I believe, would have to be conducted in order to find if eating breakfast actually leads to weight loss.
When I was younger my mom always told my brother and I that she wouldn’t let us get on the school bus unless we ate breakfast. There are days when I don’t eat breakfast, but I never knew that 30 million plus people skipped this meal. I personally feel very sick if I don’t eat breakfast. You make a great point when you talk about a third variable that could be influencing the decrease in obesity and eating breakfast. I know that my senior year of high school I would work out either in the morning or afternoon and made sure I ate a good breakfast. So this working out could definitely have an influence on my weight loss.
So many people who are concerned about their weight skip meals. I, on the other hand, love food, so I make sure I get in all my meals and maybe an extra if people are very convincing about Late Night. While I am not a huge breakfast person, I always need to have something in my stomach to help me function in the beginning of the day. It is encouraging to know that there is a possibility that this does not mean I am more susceptible to weight gain, but rather, I might have an easier time losing weight. If this is, in fact, true, I would love to know why it works this way. Hopefully scientists will do an experiment on the subject to help figure out whether there is any causation behind the correlation. If there is, the information might revolutionize weight loss ideas.