T1B

The study by researchers at the University of Guelph reported that fewer than one-quarter of adolescents eat enough fruits and vegetables and that more than 35 per cent of them are above normal weight.

Students eat, on average, more than three daily servings of foods from the "other" group, which includes soft drinks, french fries and snack foods, Professor Susan Evers found in one of the first long-term studies of its kind.

"It's disturbing to see this happening in a younger population, because obesity is a risk factor for diseases that we think of as affecting the middle-aged population," said Evers, of the university's Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition.

"These students' lifestyles are predisposing them to risk factors for heart disease and diabetes," she said in a written statement.

The researchers found that if students started developing bad eating and physical activity habits in Grade 6, those habits only worsened by Grade 9.

Two-thirds of the boys and girls in Grade 6 were eating breakfast every day, and that dropped to 48 per cent for the boys and 45 per cent for the girls by Grade 9.

"Adolescents who skip breakfast don't usually make up the nutrients they miss later in the day so they have a higher risk of nutrient inadequacies," said Evers. "Missing breakfast also makes it difficult for students to concentrate in school because of a lack of energy."