Skipping breakfast may increase your chance of developing heart disease

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Breakfast may still be the most important meal of the day. A recent study found that people who skip breakfast have a greater tendency to develop atherosclerosis than those that eat a normal breakfast.

The study was conducted with a group of more than 4,000 adults and they were asked dietary questions. Only three-percent of the participants skipped breakfast. 69-percent consumed a light morning meal and 28-percent had a substantial breakfast.

Those that skipped breakfast also had higher blood pressure, body mass index and cholesterol levels. They also tended to be smokers and not exercise as much.

Experts believe eating breakfast expends more energy in the morning which promotes cardiovascular health. Those who had a big breakfast also tended to exercise more.

People that consume a light or no breakfast had a greater chance to damage arteries in the neck and abdomen.

Along with heart disease, breakfast abstainers may develop diabetes, obesity and cholesterol.

Some of the participants in the study that skipped breakfast may have already been dieting which would affect the results.

SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology, online October 2, 2017.