Breakfast for teens tied to better nutrient intake in controlled study

Breakfast for teens who usually skip the meal was linked to better daily nutrition in a controlled study of adolescents and young adults, according to the American Society for Nutrition. Researchers reported that participants who ate breakfast consumed more fiber, iron, zinc and choline, while also eating fewer high-fat and high-sugar foods later in the day.

The findings are scheduled for presentation at NUTRITION 2026, the American Society for Nutrition’s annual meeting, held July 25-28 in National Harbor, Maryland. Emma Rose Brown, a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin, said the trial suggests that adding breakfast, especially a protein-rich one, may help older adolescents improve nutrient intake and overall diet quality.

Does breakfast help teens eat better?

In this study, teens and young adults who usually skipped breakfast ate better on days when they were assigned breakfast, the researchers reported. The benefit appeared stronger when the breakfast contained more protein.

The trial included 128 participants ages 14 to 21 who skipped breakfast at least six days a week. Researchers randomly assigned them to one of three groups: a normal-protein breakfast, a high-protein breakfast or continued breakfast skipping.

For the breakfast groups, the research team prepared and packed more than 18,000 meals using foods common among adolescents, including burritos, quesadillas, egg scrambles and smoothies. The normal-protein meals had about 15 grams of protein, while the high-protein meals had 30 grams of high-quality protein.

At the beginning of the study and again after three and six months, participants in the breakfast groups received coolers with prepared foods. They ate the meals at home over three days and could choose how much to consume.

The researchers said that design let them measure intake closely while keeping the meals in a normal home setting. Compliance was high, with participants eating the provided meals more than 90% of the time, according to the American Society for Nutrition.

How researchers measured what participants ate

The study team used two methods to assess diet. Participants reported everything they had consumed over a 24-hour period, and researchers weighed the food coolers before and after the three-day meal period.

The food intake data were then entered into nutrition software for analysis. Brown said the study was designed to test whether a high-protein breakfast would raise nutrient intake and encourage healthier eating across the rest of the day.

Across the groups, participants consumed roughly the same total calories during the day, the researchers found. The difference was in diet quality: those assigned breakfast took in more fiber, iron, zinc and choline than those who kept skipping breakfast.

The high-protein breakfast group showed additional gains. Compared with the normal-protein group, those participants consumed more protein, iron and choline, according to the researchers.

High-protein breakfasts showed stronger effects

Both breakfast groups ate fewer desserts, sweets and candy than the breakfast-skipping group, the researchers reported. The high-protein group also consumed less added sugar than the other groups.

Brown conducted the work under the mentorship of Heather Leidy, a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and the Department of Pediatrics-Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin. Brown described the research as one of the largest and longest tightly controlled breakfast trials in adolescents.

The team next plans to study how raising protein at breakfast may affect food thoughts and cravings, including among young adults and adults stopping GLP-1 medications. According to the American Society for Nutrition, that work could help shape practical approaches for supporting long-term healthy weight management.

This story draws on original reporting from Medical Xpress.