You snooze, you lose

Making time for breakfast will start your day off right

Making time to eat breakfast in the morning can drastically improve a student’s concentration and productivity for the day. The Rock and Quad Cafes have many breakfast options for students. Photo by: Kaitlyn Kirchner | Torch Photographer

Given the choice, many college students would rather sleep in an extra 10 minutes than get up to prepare themselves breakfast.

One out of every 10 American consumers skip breakfast every day, according to a study conducted in 2011 by the NPD Group, one of the largest market research companies in the world. That’s equivalent to 31 million Americans.

“If I skip breakfast, I’m less concentrated, I’m hungry, I’m just thinking about the next time that I can eat,” Ferris pre-nursing sophomore Jada Seymore said. “If I don’t skip breakfast then my day goes by more productive because I had a meal in, so I can focus more.”

Ferris registered dietitian and nutritionist Brenda Walton claims that making the right choices at breakfast will start your day off right.

“There are a lot of reasons why people do skip breakfast. They sleep in, stay up late so they can’t get up, crawl out of bed, get ready and go to class. But there are a lot of benefits to having breakfast. It improves concentration, memory and even attention span in class,” Walton said. “A lot of people that skip breakfast might think, ‘Oh, I’m trying to lose weight, I’ll skip that meal.’ Yet, studies have shown those people tend to eat more in higher calorie foods later in the day or they get the munchies at night. So, people that do eat breakfast are less likely to want to snack late at night.”

According to Walton, the goal for a balanced breakfast meal is to try and find foods that have enough protein, whole grains, carbohydrates and fiber.

“I recommend trying to eat within an hour of waking up and also getting a glass of water in the morning gets the body hydrated in the winter time,” Walton said. “Even just set up your breakfast the night before, put out the bowl and get out the cereal box, and then you just have to put the milk on it in the morning, eat it and go. Instant oatmeal is a good choice, too.”

Walton also suggests using the online menus to compare different food choices at the dining halls at Ferris.

According to Ferris pre-pharmacy freshman Sophie Kuvesh, she almost always makes time for breakfast, except for when she sleeps in.

“If I sleep in until 10, I’m probably not going to eat breakfast but I’ll eat lunch,” Kuvesh said. “I know sometimes people feel sick in the morning and that’s why they don’t eat, and I understand but as soon as you don’t feel nauseous, you should eat. That might not be breakfast but you should still get that meal in.”

Students who want specific diet ideas, want their eating patterns analyzed or have any further questions can contact Walton at brendawalton@nullferris.edu .