from International Journal of Obesity
With childhood obesity an issue, a study from Finland found less than half of children between six and eight ate all three main meals—breakfast, lunch and dinner—every day. Instead, snacks were a major source of energy with saturated fat, sugar and salt higher than recommended for children and intakes of dietary fiber, vitamin D and iron lower than recommended. The main finding of the study is that children who skip main meals are more likely to have excess body fat plus early evidence of cardiometabolic risk. That risk was assessed by scores of waist circumference, levels of insulin, blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure. Authors wrote in the International Journal of Obesity that sticking to regular meals seems to be crucial for preventing overweight and metabolic diseases in childhood.