If you grew up watching Disney Channel or Nickelodeon, chances are you’ve encountered a scene where parents have laid out a lavish breakfast spread with many tantalizing options. Instead of digging in, the child runs out the door, explaining that there is just simply no time to eat, or they are not hungry. Although such an extravagant breakfast may not be common, skipping breakfast is a choice many children and teens make almost every day when going to school. 

According to an October Bark survey, 23 percent of students reported that they don’t eat breakfast before school, while 32 percent only eat breakfast on some days of the week. This habit may seem minor, but many are unaware of the repercussions that come with skipping this part of their morning routine. 

When skipping breakfast, students leave themselves with more damage than just an empty stomach. According to a National Institute of Health study, missing breakfast harms one’s brain performance, especially as it relates to cognitive tasks, like memory and recall. Additionally, skipping breakfast impacts stress levels, which students need to manage in order to focus. Essentially, a meal can determine a student’s success. 

Nutritionist and Redwood parent Jacqueline Endler understands that much more is happening in the body when one misses this important meal than just hunger.

“You want to even out your blood glucose levels and get your cortisol levels down. Your cortisol is a stress hormone, and it is really heightened when you wake up in the morning and your blood sugar is low. Once you regulate your blood sugar, your stress hormone comes down, which is really important for students who have a long day ahead of them, [where they] need to be alert and focused. Endler said. “High school is stressful, right? Anything [students] can do to alleviate that for themselves is important.”

Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that around 72.6 percent of students in the United States skip breakfast at least once a week. Additionally, the study showed that students with a high belief that their peers and adults care about their well-being, and whose grades mostly consisted of As and Bs, were 30 percent less likely to skip breakfast. 

One high school senior, who chose to remain anonymous (whom we will refer to as “Liv”) had experienced issues with memory and test performance due to a lack of breakfast in the morning. Liv also saw major differences in the way she felt emotionally and physically, depending on whether she ate breakfast.

  “[Without breakfast], it was so hard to walk around school. I remember memory retention was really difficult for me. Even if I stayed up all night studying for a quiz, I could not remember anything [in the morning],” Liv said. “I remember not having a lot of energy to interact with my friends or my classmates. [Skipping breakfast impacted me] mentally, physically and emotionally. I felt very drained and weak in the mornings when I wouldn’t have breakfast.” 

Liv also noted that she has seen a notable increase in her mood and performance since implementing breakfast into her routine.

“It took me a long time to realize how important and what a non-negotiable breakfast was. Now I see three meals a day as the minimum,” Liv said. “I don’t even understand how I was functioning without having breakfast.”

Endler believes that food is one of the best ways to stay focused throughout the day, especially when looking at educational success. The high cortisol levels in the brain from the lack of breakfast can transition to feelings of anxiety. 

“If you think about anxiety as noise in your head, there’s just no way to really focus and concentrate when you have white noise happening inside your brain. The best way to stay alert and focus is to quiet that noise by having a good breakfast, [making] those stress hormones come down,” Endler said. 

Senior varsity athlete Holly Thomas has made a goal to work breakfast into her everyday routine. 

“It’s harder to focus [when I skip breakfast] mainly because I’m focused on how hungry I am. I can’t keep doing the task at hand,” Thomas said. “My performance dips when I’m not able to focus well. And I’m obviously not able to focus well when I haven’t had anything to eat or any energy in me.”

Thomas occasionally finds it difficult to consistently eat breakfast in the mornings while trying to manage morning activities and extracurriculars. 

“[Sometimes] I’ll have morning practice, and I’ll eat before, and then I won’t eat between morning practice and school. Then, in my class right before lunch, I’m hungry [and] I just can’t focus,” Thomas said.

For Liv, timing is also an important factor in eating breakfast every morning. 

“Time is definitely a big thing. I didn’t want to have to wake up earlier to have breakfast. And when I eat, I’m not a super fast eater. Also, for a while, I really didn’t think that it was important to have breakfast in the mornings,” Liv said.

Endler also recognizes that it can be difficult for students to make time for breakfast because of their fast-paced lifestyles. Even with a time crunch, it is crucial to find time to eat, even if it’s only a quick bite.

“Start with something easy and fast. [High schoolers] are really rushed in the morning and don’t get enough sleep, so sometimes they don’t want to give up those extra few minutes in bed to have some breakfast, but there are definitely some quick ways to get nutrition in your body,” Endler said. “You can grab a low-sugar yogurt [and] frozen waffles that are high in protein. You can pop [the waffles] in the toaster and bring them in the car. All those [options]are quick and easy. You just want to make sure that there is a nice level of protein or fat in there, and not just sugar.” 

Including breakfast in your morning routine can feel daunting, but spending an extra ten minutes preparing a bite to eat can help your brain strength and performance. Many schools, including Redwood, offer free breakfast in the mornings before class, which can be beneficial to those who struggle with waking up earlier or balancing extracurricular morning activities with food. It is important to remember that food is fuel and is essential for performing to the best of your abilities, both in and out of school.