Teenagers who want to keep fit should not skip breakfast, as a U.S. study in the March issue of Pediatrics showed that adolescents who skip morning meal have a higher risk of being overweight.

The study involved 2,216 adolescents in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota whose eating patterns, weight and other lifestyle issues were tracked for five years.

Participants completed detailed surveys on their eating patterns and also provided information on their height, weight, body-mass index and physical activity.

The more regularly the teens ate breakfast, the lower their body mass index was, according to the study.

"What we found in the study was that kids who eat breakfast frequently, and especially every day, they're more healthy overall in terms of their lifestyle," Mark Pereira of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, who led the study, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

"It's interesting to note that the kids who eat breakfast on a daily basis overall have a much better diet and are more physically active," said Mark Pereira.

Pereira theorized that breakfast eaters may control their appetite better throughout the day. It might also prevent food binges at lunch or dinner.

More than one-third of teens aged 12 to 19 are now overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, according to the study.

(Xinhua/Agencies March 4, 2008)