Skipping breakfast appears to increase the risk of cavities in young children, new research reports.

U.S. investigators found that children between the ages of 2 and 5 who didn't eat breakfast every day were almost 4 times more likely to develop tooth decay in their baby teeth than kids who never skipped the morning meal.

Tots were also more than 3 times more likely to show signs of cavities if they opted out of their daily five servings of fruit and vegetables.

Previous research has shown that children who are poor are more likely to have untreated cavities than other children. However, in the latest Journal of the American Dietetic Association report, youngsters who were not poor but skipped breakfast and their daily ration of fruits and vegetables were more likely to have cavities than poor children.

"Overall, healthy eating is important to protect kids" against cavities, study author Dr. Cynthia Ogden of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Maryland told Reuters Health.

"Parents should be aware that breakfast is an important factor" in keeping their kids' teeth healthy, she added.

During the study, Ogden and her colleagues reviewed nationwide health information collected from more than 4,000 children between 1988 and 1994.

Only 23 percent of kids who ate breakfast every day had a history of cavities, relative to 34 percent of kids who skipped the morning meal. A history of cavities was seen in only 18 percent of kids who downed at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, but in 26 percent of kids who ate fewer servings.

In an interview, Ogden explained that previous research has shown that teens who skip their morning meal are more likely to eat snacks during the day, which tend to be high in sugar. The same tendency may occur in young children, she noted.

"Breakfast kind of provides a nutritional lift first thing in the morning, because then you don't have those cravings later in the day," Ogden said.

Additionally, calcium helps protect teeth from cavities, and milk and cereal - often fortified with calcium - provides a good dose of the mineral, she added.

Kids who eat more fruits and vegetables may simply have a healthier diet overall, Ogden noted, and those who get less than five servings per day might be substituting sugar for salad.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Dental Association, January 2004.

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