Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right? So why, according to Kellogg’s breakfast survey, do only 36% of high school students eat breakfast?
There are many important reasons to eat breakfast every morning, but there are also plenty of understandable reasons to skip it. Breakfast definitely serves as an extremely crucial energy boost for a student in the early mornings. Sitting in class on a full stomach helps to harness a student’s concentration; raising blood-sugar levels help a student feel more attentive and awake. Statistically, according to Global Post, breakfast is also a factor in better attendance. Breakfast has also been seen to be really beneficial with test-taking and to improve students’ performance in school.
Emily York ‘16 agrees, remarking that “the lack of breakfast can be seen as a cause of the lack of energy in most students.” But if breakfast is so great, why do people skip it?
Laziness is a big factor. Marlo Smith ‘17 opens up on why she suspects students tend to skip out on breakfast, claiming that she “think[s] people skip [breakfast] because it’s inconvenient and they want to sleep later or don’t have the energy in the morning.”
Marlo brings up a valid point; with high school students’ hectic schedules, sleep hours tend to dwindle and students often cling desperately onto an extra 10-15 minutes of sleep. The whole issue of lack of breakfast comes down to the one of the most popular problem teenagers struggle with: time.
Despite hearing constantly about the benefits of breakfast, students still drift to the latter. “Basically people are lazy and finding something to eat requires effort,” Smith laugh. It’s true that skipping breakfast may seem like the easy way out, but at the end of the day, it is actually more beneficial to have breakfast. It’s a good thing Ridge students know that, too! About 11 out of 15 interviewed students do eat breakfast.
A convenient way to get the nutrients you need in the morning and make efficient use of time is to grab something light to eat on the way to school like a granola bar or a banana. It is so important not to miss the most needed meal of the day!