“Our results indicate that it is not only important to eat breakfast, but what matters is its content and where it is eaten,” said Jose Francisco Lopez of Spain’s University of Castilla-La Mancha.
The study, published in Frontiers in Nutrition, found that skipping breakfast or eating it away from home was associated with an increased risk of psychosocial and behavioral problems in children and adolescents.
Similarly, consumption of certain foods and beverages, such as processed meat, is associated with higher odds of developing psychosocial problems, or lower odds when eating healthy foods like dairy and grains.
Lopez and his colleagues relied on data from the 2017 Spanish National Health Survey, which included questionnaires about both the breakfast habits and mental health of 3,772 children between the ages of 4 and 14. Mental health data included: self-esteem, mood swings, and anxiety.
Researchers linked the family support provided by eating breakfast with the family, healthy nutrients, and the positive impact of breakfast at home on psychosocial health.