34% Mumbaikars give their breakfast a miss

In the turbo-paced life in Mumbai, breakfast seems to be the first casualty of the day. One in three people interviewed in a new survey said that they skipped breakfast because of `lack of time' or `tiredness'.
When it comes to the first meal of the day, Mumbai's eves fared much worse than its men. More women and adolescent girls skipped breakfast-perhaps in a bid to control weight- than their male counterparts.The city's schoolchildren drank a glass of milk and their mothers passed it off as breakfast.
The survey, conducted by the Nirmala Niketan College of Home Science, Churchgate, interviewed 1,013 people and found that a majority skipped breakfast. And if they didn't, their breakfast platter was deficient in important nutrients.
"We surveyed people across all age groups and cross-sections of society to obtain a balanced result,'' said research director Dr Malathi Siva. The subjects were divided into five categories based on their age, comprising children, adolescents and adults.
According to the study, nearly 34% of the people skipped breakfast although a majority of them believed that it was the most important meal of the day. "What was shocking was that most mothers thought it was alright for their children to skip breakfast as long as they had their tiffin before 10 am,'' said Dr Siva. While most people claimed to have little time in the morning, a large number also said they were not hungry or were too tired to eat breakfast. The predominant perception amongst most people was that breakfast was just `morning food'.
It was also noticed that children who attend morning school had a breakfast rich in protein, calcium and fibre when compared to those who attend afternoon schools. Experts stress on the need to have a balanced breakfast that comprises proteins, carbohydrates and fibre to boost the body's metabolism. "Those who eat breakfast are slimmer than those who miss it. This is because their body mass index (BMI) is better,'' said Dr Siva. She added that the ideal breakfast should provide 25% of the nutrients that the body requires in a day.
Most youngsters thought that a breakfast that fills the stomach was a healthy breakfast and 75% teenagers and young adults were under the impression that it was alright to skip breakfast once in a while if they could manage until lunchtime. "What they do not realise is that when they starve themselves for so long they tend to have a bigger lunch or constantly keep nibbling on snacks at regular intervals,'' said south Mumbai nutritionist, Vibha Kapadia. "Having been on empty stomach for nearly seven hours, an individual requires a bout of energy to kickstart the day. Children who eat a good breakfast tend to be more alert than those who skip breakfast,'' added dietitian Shilpa Joshi.