Children who skip BREAKFAST 'more likely to suffer diabetes'

Skipping breakfast in childhood may raise the risk of diabetes in later life, scientists claim.

British research suggests youngsters who do not eat the morning meal every day may be increasing their chances of developing the ‘type 2’ form of the disease as they get older.

A study by scientists at Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow and St George’s London universities found children who missed breakfast were more likely to be insulin-resistant – a key factor in the disease.

Children who did not have the morning meal were significantly more likely to have blood markers associated with diabetes risk than those who always ate breakfast.

They had higher insulin levels after not eating and their bodies were less able to respond to the hormone, which normally regulates the amount of sugar in the bloodstream.

Those skipping food first thing in the morning had very slightly higher blood sugar levels than children who regularly ate breakfast.

Almost three million people in the UK are believed to have type 2 diabetes, which is linked to lifestyle and obesity. The disease occurs when the body stops responding to insulin or produces too little of the hormone.