That's Fit

Think about when you were a teen (assuming that you're not one now). Think about what your day was like as you woke up for school, frantically headed to either catch the bus or bum a ride off of your one friend who had a car. Granted, that car looked like something Fred Sanford should have been driving, but it was still a car. Anyway, as I was saying, remember how tough it sometimes was to make the 8am bell for school. You would rush, rush, rush -- only to then barely make it to homeroom before the teacher marked you absent. Whew ... that was close.

Then, at around 9:20 or so, something started to happen. You seemed to be working on a two-to-three second delay, you were inattentive -- but not really on purpose, and your early rising from bed finally began to take its toll. If you were like most teenagers (especially today), you probably felt this way because you skipped breakfast.

Worst of all, in efforts to stop your stomach from making that embarrassing moaning sound (the one that can only mean one of two things: 1 - You're hungry, or 2 - You have to go the bathroom and you're holding it with all your might. Of course the people around you who hear it always assume that it's number two -- no pun intended), you grabbed a candy bar or bag of potato chips from the vending machine, or maybe even some tater tots from the cafeteria.

That compounded dietary mistake seems to be the norm more and more for teens, to the point that a study held at the Miriam Hospital and Brown Medical Center concluded that teens are carrying this breakfast-skipping-followed-by-poor-food-choice practice into young adulthood. Based on said study, it was discovered that fast food consumption increased significantly as breakfast consumption dropped -- with both factors coming into play concurrently as teens grew older. The result, as you might have expected, was an overall increase in body mass, as well as an increase in the risk of a host of other health problems.

Although not listed in this particular study, I'd be willing to bet that similar statistics could be found for adults who skip breakfast. Remember, the word breakfast itself is derived from "Break the Fast." In other words, you've fasted for 6, 8, 10, or however many hours you had been asleep, and now it's time to break that fast by eating. But, if you opt not to, your body will get back at you by making you sluggish, your eyes heavy, and your stomach sound like a dying camel.