The Yale University-led study, published in the journal Pediatric Obesity, involved 584 students aged 10-12 from 12 schools in an urban school district where breakfast and lunch are provided to all students at no cost.
Researchers tracked the students’ breakfast-eating locations and patterns, and their weight over a two-year period from 5th grade (10 years old) in 2011-2012 to 7th grade (12 years old) in 2013-2014.
Students who skipped breakfast or ate breakfast inconsistently were more than twice as likely to be overweight or obese compared with students who ate double breakfast.
Marlene Schwartz, a study author and director of the Rudd Center, said: “When it comes to the relationship between school breakfast and body weight, our study suggests that two breakfasts are better than none.”
The study was conducted by the Community Alliance for Research and Engagement (CARE) at the Yale School of Public Health and the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University of Connecticut.