Breakfast may cut lead poison risk

Eating a regular breakfast may reduce the risk of lead poisoning in children, research has shown.

A study in China found that blood levels of lead were 15 per cent lower in those who did not skip breakfast.

Scientists collected blood samples from 1,344 children aged three to five and tested them for lead, iron, copper, zinc, calcium and magnesium.

Children who ate breakfast regularly had a mid-range lead level of 6.1 micrograms per decilitre of blood. In comparison, those who skipped breakfast had a lead concentration of 7.2 micrograms per decilitre.

Lead poisoning, defined as a blood lead level of 10 micrograms or higher, was identified in eight per cent of children with a regular breakfast habit and 10 per cent of breakfast-skipping children.

Previous studies have shown that an empty stomach increases the body’s absorption of lead.

Lead researcher Jianghong Liu, from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, US, and colleagues wrote in the journal Environmental Health: “This study provided epidemiological evidence that increasing breakfast frequency could reduce B-Pb (blood lead) in young children.

“Parental or caregivers’ characteristics, including education and occupation, are major determinants of breakfast frequency, indicating that improving their knowledge about nutrition and B-Pb might help to prevent lead poisoning.”

Lead poisoning was almost twice as common in boys than in girls, and children aged four and five were twice at risk as three-year-olds, the study found.

Eating breakfast was also associated with greater zinc blood levels. Zinc is a vital micronutrient that helps strengthen the immune system.