Adding breakfast back into the daily routine of teens around age 18 who habitually skip the meal can meaningfully improve their nutrition, with the biggest gains seen among those given protein-rich morning meals, according to a six-month clinical trial.
Teenagers who regularly skipped breakfast improved the quality of their diets when they began eating a morning meal. Image credit: Pexels.
“This is one of the largest and longest tightly controlled breakfast trials in adolescents,” said Emma Rose Brown, a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin.
“Our findings suggest that adding breakfast, particularly one rich in protein, may be an effective way to improve nutrient intake and diet quality among older adolescents.”
“Although most Americans think that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, there isn’t a lot of evidence to support this idea.”
“We wanted to see whether consuming a high-protein breakfast would increase nutrient intake and promote healthier eating throughout the day.”
The researchers followed 128 older adolescents who were between 14 and 21 years old, all of whom skipped breakfast about six times a week, for six months.
The participants were split into three groups: one ate a normal-protein breakfast, another ate a higher-protein breakfast of the same calorie count, and a third continued skipping breakfast entirely.
Both breakfast meals totaled roughly 350 calories, with the higher-protein version containing about 30 grams of protein compared to 11 grams in the standard version.
At regular intervals, participants’ eating habits were tracked through detailed food recalls and weighed food returns to see exactly what — and how much — they were consuming throughout the day.
While total daily calorie intake remained similar across all three groups, at around 2,200 calories per day, the composition of what teens ate differed significantly.
Both breakfast-eating groups consumed more fiber, iron, zinc, and choline than the breakfast-skipping group.
Those eating the higher-protein breakfast saw additional benefits, taking in even more iron and choline, along with more overall protein, compared to their skipping peers.
The scientists also found shifts in food choices: teens who ate breakfast, regardless of protein content, consumed fewer calories from desserts, sweets, and candy than those who skipped it, though this effect was most apparent at the three-month mark.
Notably, teens on the higher-protein breakfast plan also cut back on added sugar compared to both other groups.
“Breakfast consumption increased intake of most nutrients of public health concern and reduced intake of high-fat and/or high-sugar foods among habitual breakfast-skipping adolescents, with additional benefits observed when consuming higher-protein breakfasts,” the authors concluded.
“These findings suggest that the addition of breakfast, particularly one rich in protein, may be an effective strategy to improve nutrient adequacy and diet quality among older adolescents.”
The researchers presented their findings July 25 at NUTRITION 2026, the flagship annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition held in National Harbor, Maryland.
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Emma Rose Brown et al. Breakfast Consumption Improved Nutrient Adequacy and Diet Quality Throughout a 6-Month Breakfast Feeding Trial in Habitual ‘Breakfast Skipping’ Adolescents. NUTRITION 2026
