(NaturalPath) Planning on skipping that breakfast as you ran out of time before school in all the busyness? Don’t. According to a new study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, researchers found that online and in-person group education are effective in helping parents reduce breakfast-skipping and improve other breakfast nutritional knowledge and benefits. This is important because other studies have shown that eating breakfast has been associated with a higher quality diet and a decreased risk for obesity compared to skipping what is known as the most important meal of the day.
For the study, individuals were assigned to have either in-person or online education that focused on ways to reduce breakfast skipping and promoted healthy options at breakfast for parents and their 1 – to 5-year-old children. Participants were followed up with between two and four months. This was part of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
With the training, both groups reported reductions in barriers to eating breakfast due to time constraints, not having enough foods at home and difficulty with preparation. Interestingly, there was a greater increase in frequency of eating breakfast for both the parent and child in the online group compared to the in-person group.
The lead investigator noted, “The goals of the breakfast class were to teach participants why it is important for adults and children to eat breakfast every day, why skipping breakfast can lead to poorer health for children and adults, how WIC foods can be used to make healthy breakfasts, and to have participants set personal goals for eating healthier breakfasts.”
It may take some education either in-person or online, but once education happens more people have the knowledge that it is important not to skip breakfast and can make healthy nutrition decisions for themselves and their family.
Razi Berry, Founder and Publisher of Naturopathic Doctor News & Review (ndnr.com) and NaturalPath (thenatpath.com), has spent the last decade as a natural medicine advocate and marketing whiz. She has galvanized and supported the naturopathic community, bringing a higher quality of healthcare to millions of North Americans through her publications. A self-proclaimed health-food junkie and mother of two; she loves all things nature, is obsessed with organic gardening, growing fruit trees (not easy in Phoenix), laughing until she snorts, and homeschooling. She is a little bit crunchy and yes, that is her real name.