Last month’s IN THE NEWS highlighted a study published in the British Medical Journal Online First which suggested that those who eat quickly treble their risk of being overweight. Scientists involved in the study believe that the modern manner of eating on the go – and until absolutely full – is a significant factor in the current obesity epidemic because it overrides signals in the brain which normally encourage a little more self control. Now a study of British youngsters by Cancer Research UK, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that teaching children to savour their food will not only help them manage their weight but also help combat cancer.

In the study scientists set about videoing more than 120 sets of twins between the ages of 10 and 12 as they ate sandwiches and fruit salad. They worked out how many bites a minute the children took and compared this with their weight. Fastest eaters were the overweight children, at 4.3 bites a minute; next came those on the heavy side of normal with 4.1 bites a minute. The thinnest youngsters took only 3.8 bites a minute. Although the researchers acknowledged that genes influence our eating rates they came to the conclusion that the faster children eat the more overweight they tend to be and the higher the risk of cancer. As obesity raises the risk of at least five forms of cancer, something as simple as teaching children to eat slowly could have a huge impact on public health.

 

Great dietary gurus of centuries ago stressed the importance of eating slowly and chewing food for a long time and as this study makes clear, this message is even more important today not just for busy adults who bolt down their food, but also for children.

Yet more evidence of the weight loss benefits of eating breakfast to kick start your metabolism (fat burning) for the day ahead have been revealed by a recent study directed by the University of London.

The study of 15,000 children found that one in five was overweight or obese when he or she started school and those five year olds who were not given a bowl of cereal or a slice of toast in the morning were twice as likely to be obese as those who ate breakfast. The researchers suggested that children who miss breakfast are more likely to get hungry before lunch and gain weight because they tend to snack on foods that are high in fat and sugar.

 

This study confirms the results from other studies that suggest that children who skip breakfast tend to perform less well at school and have poorer test results. The message is simple and clear: to reduce their risk of weight gain and improve their performance at school, children need to sit down to a healthy breakfast every morning.