We hear ad nauseam in the media that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But how does this translate into childhood obesity? Is it really in countries where obese children are less, breakfasts are healthier?
USA
It’s no secret that Americans are completely unable to cope with being overweight and obese. It has already become an epidemic. Over a third American children have a few or several dozen extra pounds. It does not doubts that improper nutrition is responsible for this state of affairs. In the United States, children eat a lot and they are mostly food highly processed.
An inseparable element of breakfasts are there pancakes (the equivalent of our pancakes) poured lavishly differently kind of sweet sauces and syrups. Another delicacy is white toast breads. You must drink some juice or a sweetened drink.
Japan
Japanese children’s breakfasts are different from what they enjoyed we are used to. It’s pretty hard to imagine kids eating on breakfast soup, seafood, or legumes. And yet. In Japan, a lot children start their day with miso, or soups based on fermented soybean paste. They are added to it, among others seaweed, tofu, fish or seafood. Another traditional dish made from fermented foods is soybeans and rice natto. Despite, that the breakfast suggestions of little Japanese people do not sound very encouraging, they are certainly wholesome. They are rich in wholesome protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Japan is one of the few countries where the problem of childhood obesity is not that widespread.
Francja
Children in the morning in Paris and other French cities they most often eat various types of bread (most often a baguette or rising) with jam or possibly chocolate cream. Complement breakfast usually provide fruit, cereals with milk are also eaten quite willingly.
Research shows that there are fewer obese children in France than in most European countries. It is certainly not without significance that French children eat very regularly.
Grecja
The biggest problem with Greek breakfasts is that … usually they are not. The first meal is usually eaten just before south. Unfortunately, this habit often affects children as well. However, if they are already eaten, the choice is usually for sweet snacks. Nobody The cakes and pastries eaten for breakfast are surprising here. An example would be even if bougatsa, that is, a cake filled with pudding, semolina or cheese mass.
In Greece, nearly 40% of girls and 50% of boys have a BMI above normal. This is the worst result in the world. They are ahead of them in this respect even Americans.
The obesity epidemic
The percentage of overweight and obese children in recent years For several dozen years it has been growing at an avalanche pace. And while research shows that in some countries this tendency was somewhat halted (e.g. in Australia, USA, Switzerland, Sweden), the problem has still not been resolved. Affects it many factors. One of them is definitely breakfast. Where the children are eat regularly and healthy, obese children will start to be smaller.
Unfortunately, in Poland more and more children eat in way similar to Western countries, there is also a lack of traffic. The consequence is that the number of obese children in Poland will triple over time last 20 years.
Main photo: Jerome Chi / Foter / CC BY-SA
Photo in text 1: avlxyz / Foter / CC BY-SA
Photo in text 2: priyam.n / Foter / CC BY
Photo in text 3: andrewmalone / Foter / CC BY
Photo in text 4: avlxyz / Foter / CC BY-SA