Teens can take breakfast to go

Image-conscious teens have another reason to not skip breakfast: Eating breakfast may help control weight.

A study of teens' eating patterns and their weights, conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota and published in February in the journal Pediatrics, adds credence to the idea that eating breakfast is beneficial.

In the five-year study of more than 2,000 teens, regular breakfast eaters were more likely to be leaner. The frequency of breakfast-eating declines throughout the teen years, though.

The study supports other research findings, including an earlier Harvard study that found adults who ate breakfast were up to half as likely to be obese compared to people who skipped breakfast.

But many teens find it a challenge to eat in the morning. Our 16-year-old is no exception.

Barbara's breakfast habits changed in middle school. Before her teen years, she typically started the day with cereal and milk, whole grain toast, waffles, a muffin, or a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of fruit juice. That soon changed.

As she tells it, "I wanted more sleep, so I woke up later." It left less time in the morning for breakfast.

As a junior in high school now, she stays up later at night and comes downstairs to the kitchen even later in the morning. "I don't feel like eating," she said.

Oftentimes, though, she does take a sandwich bag full of dry cereal or an easy-to-peel Clementine to eat on the school bus.

Taking something for later is one strategy and compromise for dealing with skipping breakfast. Other portable, bus-friendly foods include half of a peanut butter sandwich, a banana, apple or pear, a cup of nonfat yogurt or a granola bar.

It's better than nothing. Other ideas for breakfast-challenged teens:

• Get started with a glass of juice. In the absence of an appetite, fluids are easy to get down and can be appealing when nothing else sounds good. Mix orange juice and carrot or pineapple juice. Then take something solid as you run out the door.
• Set up for breakfast the night before. Set out a bowl and spoon and a box of cereal or a packet of instant oatmeal. An electric tea kettle is super-convenient for quickly heating small amounts of water for instant hot cereal.
• Give yourself a little extra time. Set the alarm to wake yourself up 15 minutes earlier and eat breakfast before you do anything else.

Variety can also pique anyone's interest in eating breakfast. Shake things up by considering some nontraditional breakfast foods. For example:

• Hot soup. Buy packets of instant miso soup, a Japanese morning tradition. Or heat any kind of soup in a microwave oven. You can even take it to go in a travel mug.
• Dinner leftovers. Cold pizza or Chinese takeout are fine. No rule says breakfast has to be cereal or toast.
• A smoothie. Set out the blender the night before. Design your own breakfast concoction by blending together your choice of ingredients: nonfat milk or soymilk, orange juice, nonfat vanilla or plain yogurt, a banana or other fresh fruit, several ice cubes, a dash of vanilla extract or cinnamon, a tablespoon of wheat germ -- use your imagination. Remember: Travel mugs aren't just for coffee.

Teens, it's worth the effort to figure out how to work breakfast into your daily routine. You've got nothing to lose -- except excess weight -- by trying.