CHS Junior Laura James starts off her mornings with eggs, cereal, coffee, eggs and orange juice – she has the kind of breakfasts that are typically only seen on commercials for breakfast foods.
Laura has the opportunity to make herself breakfast because she is willing to wake up early every morning, “I usually wake up at around 6 o’clock.”
However, for many CHS students, the idea of hitting the snooze button is far more appealing than the thought of dragging oneself out of bed and into the kitchen to make breakfast.
“I never really eat breakfast on school days,” Freshmen Felix Evans said. “Usually I have to leave for school and there’s no time.”
No matter how early one wakes up, many students also run into the problem of not being hungry in the mornings. Some students even report feeling nauseous as a result of eating breakfast.
Senior Julia Bui says that she ends up feeling worse on days when she eats breakfast. “It ends up making me feel pretty sluggish. When you eat when you’re not hungry it just kind of sits in your stomach.”
Given all of these factors, skipping breakfast on a daily basis is a common practice for children and adults alike. Unfortunately, many underestimate the importance of this first meal of the day.
According to Connie Diekman, Director of University Nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis and immediate past president of the American Dietetic Association (ADA), “Scientific studies show that having breakfast before a day in the classroom improves verbal fluency, hand to eye coordination, attendance, and scores on tests.”
“Breakfast eaters also seem to have healthier body weights and lower blood cholesterol levels,” Diekman said. “While more research is needed to assess how these outcomes occur, it is felt that starting the day with a meal improves blood sugar thus aiding in control of appetite. Studies indicate that breakfast skippers miss more essential nutrients and tend to make poorer food choices.” Skipping breakfast can sometimes lead to a higher BMI and weight gain.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics supports these findings, reporting that eating breakfast can improve math, reading and standardized test scores. It can also aid in memory, preforming problem-solving tasks and it can help students pay attention.
While the cause behind this relationship is still under study, the existence of the correlation is evident. Diekman speculates that the correlation could possibly be due to elevated blood sugar levels which aid with performance and energy levels.
Annalise Shumway, who is currently attending Fontbonne’s graduate school to receive her Masters of Science (dietitian already?), argues that lack of time is a poor excuse to skip breakfast. “I don’t know anyone who is too busy to eat. If you’re too busy to peel an orange or bite into an apple there’s some problems that need to be worked out. It’s very important to not skip meals and eating is important if you want to be strong and active.”
If you don’t have time in the mornings, both she and Diekman recommend grabbing something quick before leaving the house.
For those that say they simply aren’t hungry in the mornings, Diekman explains that this may be due to the body having adjusted to the habit of not eating breakfast. “If someone struggles to eat first thing in the morning, start with something small – yogurt, toast with peanut butter, a hard cooked egg or dry cereal and dried fruit to munch on while heading to class.”

Shumway emphasizes the importance of a balanced diet for students wishing to do well in their classes, “Getting nutrients is really important for your body, and if you’re not feeding your body how can you honestly expect your body to feed your mind?”