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Breakfasts
Interactive game to make your breakfast choice
What is it??
We call the first meal of the day Breakfast, because it is the meal that breaks the long fast between 8pm and 8am approximately. During this overnight fast, the level of blood sugar runs low, which accounts for the tiredness and irritability many of us feel in the morning. 5% of UK population eat NO breakfast !!
So what happens if I don't have breakfast?
Research shows that people who skip breakfast are:
- More accident-prone because they are not as alert.
- Less efficient in school and at work
- Find it difficult to concentrate throughout the day
- Are more likely to overeat during the day because they become so hungry
- Likely to have poor problem solving ability due to low blood sugar levels.
Often, girls think that if they skip breakfast it will help them lose weight. We should get up a little earlier for a quick breakfast, and always have some suitable food in the house - we would feel so much better!!
Breakfast's contribution to day's intake
Breakfast should supply 25% of our daily intake of energy and nutrients -
Download a Breakfast Survey and Practical (62KB PDF Document)
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Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the exclusion of meat and/or animal products from the diet. Types of vegetarianism range from complete exclusion of all animal-derived products (veganism) to less strict vegetarianism which allows eggs and dairy products (lacto-ovo vegetarianism). In UK, 3-7 % of the population are vegetarian.
Vegetarians are at risk of not getting the right balance of nutrients if they do not plan their meals carefully. The nutrients that would be readily provided by animal products need to be replaced in a vegetarian diet. Sometimes, this is not possible and consequently, vegetarians tend to have lower intakes of iron, vitamin B12, zinc. This section will explore the consequences of excluding meat from the diet.
Eating Disorders
What are Eating Disorders?
People with eating disorders experience serious disturbances in their eating patterns, such as a severe and unhealthy reduction in their food intake or overeating, as well as extreme concern about body shape or weight. Eating disorders usually develop during adolescence or early adulthood. Eating disorders are not due to weak willpower or bad behaviour; rather, they are real, treatable illnesses. The two main types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Who has eating disorders?
- Women are much more likely than men to develop an eating disorder.
- Research suggests that about 1 percent of female adolescents have anorexia.
- An estimated 1 - 4% of women have bulimia nervosa in their lifetime.
- About 50% of people who have had anorexia develop bulimia or bulimic patterns.
What causes eating disorders?
As with most mental illnesses, eating disorders are not caused by just one factor but by a combination of sociocultural, psychological and biological factors.
Sociocultural and psychological factors:
- Low self-esteem
- Pressures to be thin
- Cultural norms of attractiveness as promoted by magazines and popular culture
- Use of food as way of coping with negative emotions
- Rigid thinking (e.g., "being fat is bad" and "being thin is good")
- Over-controlling parents who do not allow expression of emotion
- History of sexual abuse
Biological factors:
- Genetic predisposition to eating disorders, depression, and anxiety
- Certain personality styles, for example obsessive-compulsive personality type
- Deficiency or excess of certain brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, especially serotonin
What are the signs and symptoms?
Anorexia Nervosa - Extreme weight loss and believing that one is fat despite excessive thinness are key features of anorexia. Some of the signs are:
- severe weight loss
- distortions and misconceptions about weight and body size
- obsession with food and calories
- preoccupation with self-control
- excessive exercising
- isolation, loss of friends
- emotional, irritable behaviour
- secret vomiting/purging
- loss of menstrual periods
Bulimia Nervosa - People who have bulimia regularly binge-eat and then attempt to prevent gaining weight from their binge through purging (e.g., vomiting, abusing laxatives, exercising excessively). The following are signs of bulimia:
- binge-eating large amounts of food
- obsession with food and calories
- vomiting and purging
- often disappearing to the lavatory after meals
- secretive behaviour
- feeling out of control
- menstrual disturbances
- very low self-esteem
Treatment
It's still not understood exactly what causes an eating disorder, but the good news is that help is available.
A variety of people treat eating disorders, using different techniques. Eating disorders require a comprehensive, long-term treatment plan. These include family doctors, psychiatrists, dieticians and, ideally, a multidisciplinary team on a specialised eating disorders unit.
Treatment includes self-help approaches and psychological treatments, especially cognitive behavioural therapy, which aims to give people a better understanding of their condition and learn ways to change their behaviour.
Unfortunately, many people with eating disorders will not admit they are ill and refuse treatment. Support from family and friends is vital to successful treatment and recovery.
What are the long-term effects of eating disorders?
Left untreated, eating disorders may lead to malnutrition; muscle atrophy; dry skin, hair, and nails; dental problems; insomnia or chronic fatigue; ulcers; low blood pressure; diabetes; anaemia; kidney, liver, and pancreas failure; osteoporosis and arthritis; infertility; seizures; heart attack; and death.
Getting better is often a long, slow process. For example, 30 per cent of anorexics who have apparently recovered relapse in the first year after treatment and need more therapy. However, up to 75 per cent of those with anorexia nervosa will achieve the aims of treatment after six months to six years. As many as 50 per cent recover completely, while another 30 to 40 per cent manage to lead a normal life.
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