Ross: 50,000 years of human evolution and we’re still debating breakfast
May 27, 2016, 5:43 AM | Updated: 6:42 am
Is it stupid to skip breakfast?
One of The New York Times’ most popular stories this week was a piece by Dr. Aaron Carroll, a professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, who is also known online as the “Incidental Economist,” and who recently revealed on his YouTube channel that he doesn’t eat breakfast.
I could identify with this because, except for maybe a carrot, I don’t eat breakfast either. And I’ve always had to fend off criticism from people who think that’s unhealthy and stupid.
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Well, according to Dr. Carroll – and did I mention he’s a doctor – it’s perfectly healthy. Because if you’re not hungry you shouldn’t force yourself to eat.
Yes, there are several studies that found an association between skipping breakfast and scary things like obesity and heart disease. But Dr. Carroll points out that a statistical association is no reason to overrule your instincts. As they say in medical school: Correlation does not imply causation.
Carroll also observes that these pro-breakfast studies tend to be funded by, shall we say, interested parties.
“The Kellogg Company … the Quaker Oats Center of Excellence.”
As for the most rigorous studies that show kids do better in school when they have a full breakfast, these are kids who are hungry because their families are struggling. He has no problem with school breakfast programs.
“Hungry kids should be fed, but this different from forcing kids to eat if they don’t want to,” he said.
So there it is. Eat breakfast if you’re hungry, but if you’re not, don’t!
Fifty-thousand years of human evolution and we’re still debating Cheerios.
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