Many US Kids Are Skipping Lunch

Fuse/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Breakfast is often touted as the most important meal of the day but in reality, all three repasts are on equal footing.

That’s why a new study from the Nestlé Research Center is somewhat alarming: it claims that millions of kids ages 4 to 13 are not eating lunch regularly.

Based on stats from the 2009-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a whopping 13 percent of youngsters ages 4 to 8 don’t eat lunch while an even greater number of 9- to 13-year-olds — 17 percent — are also eschewing lunch.

Things actually get worse on the weekend for the older kids in the study since one in four also don’t bother having lunch.

Study author Kevin Mathias contends, “This study highlights an opportunity for both government and the food industry to develop new strategies to encourage children and adolescents to consume a healthy lunch.”

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