Is breakfast crucial for young women’s (over)weight?
Associate Professor Mette Hansen from Aarhus University will use a grant of almost DKK two million from the Danish Dairy Research Foundation to investigate what effect skipping breakfast has on young women’s weight and appetite regulation as well as for their physical activity and ability to concentrate during the rest of the day. The goal is to curb the growing problem of overweight among young women.
A quarter of all young women are overweight or obese. And there are indications that the risk of overweight is greater if you do not eat breakfast. Nevertheless, a third of young women regularly skip breakfast, and this figure has been on the rise over the past decade.
Associate Professor Mette Hansen from the Department of Public Health at Aarhus University will therefore investigate what eating a high-protein breakfast every morning means for body composition and various other health parameters. She and her colleagues will evaluate the effect of the breakfast, which consists of skyr provided by Arla Amba, alone and together with training.
The hypothesis is that the young women will reduce their body fat, alter their intestinal flora in a positive direction, and improve their health parameters in general, if they eat a high-protein breakfast rather than no breakfast over a twelve week period. Mette Hansen also expects that training will strengthen the effect of eating the breakfast.
The results of the research project may lead to new nutritional recommendations which can benefit both the individual and also have an economic and health impact.
Read more about the project at https://ph.au.dk/nystart/ (in Danish only).
Contact
Associate Professor Mette Hansen
Aarhus University, Department of Public Health
Mobile: (+45) 51 66 65 51
Email: mhan@ph.au.dk