NCD Watch

Start the Day with a Healthy Breakfast

27 Jun 2011 (Mon)

Despite the substantial health benefits of breakfast consumption, breakfast skipping is relatively common in Hong Kong. The Child Health Survey 2005/2006 assessed the eating habits of over 6 800 Hong Kong children aged 2 - 14 and observed that 4.1% of children omitted breakfast some or all of the time. The prevalence increased with age, from 3.2% among children aged 2 - 5 to 3.6% among children aged 6 - 10 and 5.2% among children aged 11 - 14. As for adults, the Behavioural Risk Factor Survey (BRFS) April 2010 found that in Hong Kong, 5.5% of community-dwelling people aged 18 - 64 skipped breakfast in the 30 days prior to enumeration. The proportion of breakfast skippers was relatively higher among males (5.8%), those who were never married (5.8%), service workers (7.5%) and non-working persons (7.1%). Besides, the younger and the lower the education attainment of the respondents, the more likely they were to report skipping breakfast.

Breakfast is an important part of a healthy diet. Breakfast consumption can lead to increased satiety, thereby minimising the risk of excessive energy intake at subsequent meals by eating too much. Eating fibre-rich breakfast foods can also blunt postprandial glycaemic and insulinaemic responses, and thereby reducing the risk of obesity and chronic diseases. Thus, members of the public are urged to start the day with healthful breakfast foods that are high in nutritive value and dietary fibre, and do not provide excess fat, sugar and energy.