UNIVERSITI

TEKNOLOGI PETRONAS

January Semester 2016

LDB1042:
Academic Writing

ASSIGNMENT : ACADEMIC PAPER

TITLE

Effects of Skipping Breakfast on Long-Term Health

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PREPARED BY

Mohamad Isyraf Fitri bin Mohd Shah

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PREPARED FOR
Ahmad Masdil Fazli
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DATE

20 April 2014
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Effects of Skipping Breakfast on Long-Term Health

Meals are consumed for the nutrients and beneficial elements contained in

them . When the world first introduced sufficient times of daily meals intake ,
breakfast is included along with lunch and dinner ,even its proven as important as
the others . Breakfast is regarded as the first meal taken of the day . The name
breakfast itself means breaking the fast ,which fast stands for the overnight fast
a person been through daily . Starting a day with an empty stomach would
absolutely bad to a person. This fact is supported by the evidence by Shaw(1998) ,
where breakfast acted as crucial elements of nutritional well-being , devoting to
overall daily energy and nutrient consumption. However , a trend of skipping
breakfast had occurred for the past two decades , where recent research by Cahill ,et
al. (2013) stated that breakfast consumption had shown significant reduction in
percentile from 86% (1965) to 75% (1991) based on The Nationwide Food
Consumption Survey 1965 . Although there is no evidence that skipping breakfast
will give immediate health effects , worldwide health professionals really concerned
on how the missing nutrients and essential elements from breakfast will effect the
particular person long-term health . The possibility for the habit of skipping breakfast
to be significantly related to long-term health effects undeniabely high , as reports
from numerous studies had confirmed on the relation of skipping meals with deadly
and fatal health outcomes .

Unhealthy dietary habit has taken place all around the globe regardless

regions , cultures or races . Noticable phenomena of unhealthy diet where

Horikawa,et al (2011) mentioned that ,skipping breakfast took place not only in
Western countries but also in Pacific and Asian regions , which this habit strictly
regarded as an unhealthy one . Even in modernised country such as Japan has
showned increasing of similar case among the citizens (Nose,et al.,2010;Horikawa,et
al .,2011) .The trend of skipping breakfast widely spread out at all human life stage
and the concern of this academic paper goes to the two main phase which are
adolescence and adult . A 13 years follow-up research by Shaw(2008) conveyed that
11.7% of 699 13-years old adolescence skipped their breakfast despite their family

sociodemographic status . The rate of females skipped breakfast found to be tripled

to the rate of males where among those females , 47% are keen in getting a perfect
body shape . Other valid reasons for this dietary habit happening within adolescence
are mostly due to limited time for particular meal , less hunger feeling and dislike the
breakfast prepared . However there is no significant difference in percentage of
adults who skipped breakfast to be campared to adolescence . Cahill,et al.(2013)
stated that 13% of 26902 men skipped their breakfast during the 16 years follow up
study . On top of that ,2% of those breakfast skipper were tend to grab late-night
meals in which these eating habit would influenced the other lifestyle such as
sleeping hours , smoking and engangement with physical activities . In fact , it is
statiscally proven by noticeable difference in rate of physical activity done by the
breakfast skipper group and breakfast eater group as lower rate recorded by
breakfast skipper group . Nonetheless, world most concern goes to childhood age as
highlighted by Shaw(2008) in his article entitled Adolescent Breakfast Skipping: An
Australian Study ,where Shaw mentioned that many researchers agreed that habits
created in early age are hard to amend when reached adulthood phase .

This academic paper highlights the effects of skipping breakfast on daily life

and how they influence the long-term health . These associations was observed by
taking account on subjects body mass index (BMI) , heart rate , oxygen uptake and
oral temperature . Firstly , BMI is utilized as a screening instrument to demonstrate
whether a man is underweight, overweight,obese or a perfect weight for their
stature. BMI qualities are age-autonomous where healthy BMI will always be on the
range of 18.5 to 24.9 regardless body type and other characteristics .Through 16
years follow up experiment with the method of cox proportional hazards model ,
Cahill ,et al. (2013) imply that the average BMI of subjects who skipped their
breakfast are higher than the healthy BMI compared to those who consumed their
breakfast .This result confirmed that , skipping breakfast had caused a person to own
an unhealthy weight , or being in the state of overweight . A person with healthy
BMI indicates that the person has an ideal weight for himself ,hence lower the risk of
helth effects while in oppose to that will cause of having higher risk of fatal health
consequences . According to Nose,et al .(2010) ,subjects who had their breakfast

showned a paramount rise in level of heart rate, while heart rate among the
individuals who skipped breakfast will experience slower heart rate .This occurs due
to the act of eating itself affliated by increased blood flow mainly to ease digestion
,hence increased the heart rate . Oral temperature of those who skipped breakfast
also significantly lower than those who consumed breakfast (Nose,et al.,2010) . Diet
induced thermogenesis (DIT) which generated only when breakfast is consumed ,
will increases core body temperature . Absence of DIT or hypothermia is scientifically
proven will cause slower work performance . Other than that , the habit of skipping
breakfast also gives impact to the oxygen uptake of a person in daily life . Supported
with the outcome of research by Nose,et al.(2010) , results showed a decrement in
resting oxygen uptake level among the skipping breakfast group which associated
with the lower heart rates and oral temperature . All these daily body mechanisms
responses to breakfast skipping habit have high possibilties of leading to more
dangerous long-term health outcome .

Numerous studies had been done by researchers to investigate the health

effects that may occur from the habit of skipping breakfast .As mentioned earlier ,
although it cannot be confirmed that skipping breakfast might caused an immediate
health effects , but a 16 years follow up study by Cahill ,et al (2013) had proved the
positive association of skipping breakfast and risk of having long-term health effects
which in this case the coronary heart disease (CHD) which one of the dealiest disease
. To the best of our knowledge , this association was conceivably a consequence of
the blend of mechanistic pathways of others health outcomes such as obesity and
hypertension . Omitting breakfast is scientifically proven in causing stimulation of
the peak postprandial insulin to be at a higher level at that time , where high insulin
level may lead to gain in weight and rise in triglycerides(fat) storage (Horikawa,et al.,
2013) . Hence, the further effects of this will be obesity and possibly other
metabolism health outcomes . Obesity also mentioned by Cahill,et al (2013) as one
of the health outcomes that might set stage for heart disease , where this statement
is proven by the research result as there is a significant positive association of an
increased risk of CHD and breakfast skipping group . Statistics gained from the same
research also conveyed that subjects who omitted their breakfast were 15% more

likely to experienced weight gain , which complete the relations of skipping breakfast
,obesity and coronary heart disease. Cahill ,et al.(2013) claimed in her research that
over many years these consequences might possibly lead to insulin sensitivity,
followed by the [type-2] diabetes, which later might caused high blood pressure to
occur where these prove the affliation of skipping breakfast with other long-term
fatal diseases that might occur . Chances for the occurrence of hypertension and
stroke are indisputably huge as daily health outcomes such as low oral temperature
and reduction in oxygen intake caused by skipping breakfast might slowly affect the
whole body performance in resisting diseases . Clearly , consuming breakfast
resulted with lower CHD risk among the subjects and breakfast skipper group had a
27% higher risk of experiences CHD or even dying from it (Cahill,et al.,2013).

Indeed, skipping breakfast has a strong association to long-term health

effects. As to conclude , omitting the first meal of the day will definitely lead to
higher risk of having fatal health consequences . However , most of them were not
being taught on the colleration of having breakfast and healthy lifestyle . A belief
also been revolving around on how skipping breakfast might be a good plan of
controlling weight without knowing the huge potential of having energy deficit when
it is done occasionally ( Levitsky & Pacanowsky ,2013) . This explains how the path of
skipping breakfast to long-term health effects is created . Begins when people are
less educated in terms of creating a healthy lifestyle ,causing them to ignore the vital
part of it . Most of them even sacrifice perfect healthy lifestyle for a perfect body
without even knowing the possible consequences . Hence ,public should be taught
and clarified on the effects of skipping breakfast to themselves in the future .
Campaigns and events promoting the importance of breakfast to health should also
be held progressively around the globe . Researchers are urge to continue
investigating the effects of skipping breakfast as future findings surely be useful to
the next human generations . The first meal of the day might influence when your
last breath will be .

(1573 words)

References

Cahill ,L.E.,et al.(2013). Prospective study of breakfast eating and incident Coronary

Heart Disease in a cohort of male US health professionals. Circulation. 128,.337-343.

Horikawa,C., et al.(2011). Skipping breakfast and prevalence of overweight and obesity in

Asian and Pacific regions: A meta-analysis. Preventive Medicine . 15,.260-267.

Levitsky, D.A., & Pacanowski,C.(2013,May 03) Effect of skipping breakfast on

subsequent energy intake . Physiology & Behavior. 119,.9-16.

Nose ,Y., et al.(2010). Effects of Eating or Skipping Breakfast on Heart Rate and Oxygen

Uptake. Kawasaki Journal of Medical Welfare. 16,(2). 58-63.

Shaw, M.E.(1998). Adolescent breakfast skipping: an Australian study. Adolescence,

33,(132).851-861.