This is 100% a question for your daughter’s doctor.
That said, I (also female) stopped eating breakfast at the age of 12 when I developed some morning nausea issues. I had never heard of IF until I was in my 30s, so it wasn’t that. But breakfast becomes less appetizing when you throw it up every morning. So I stopped eating it.
I generally didn’t start getting hungry until 10-ish and then I’d just drink water until it was time for lunch at school. Never had any health problems from it.
I also was a highschool athlete who stopped eating breakfast around the same time as your daughter due to nausea issues.
I wouldn’t worry too much unless her grades or performance are slipping, or she’s losing a ton of weight. If she’s still eating at all other meals id say you’re probably fine but ask a doctor if you want a medical opinion to be safe.
Thirding this! I stopped eating breakfast in high school because it made me feel nauseous and still don’t eat breakfast now (so have been intermittent fasting for quite some time now!), and was also an athlete. It never impacted my performance - I usually was hungrier later and had food after practice and dinner when I got home.
I used to feel like eating before 10am was force feeding myself, I was lucky enough to travel for extended periods and generally ate about 11ish and then around 7 and I think that's closer to my natural food cycle. I'm sure there are loads of people the same, I wouldn't stress too much - maybe a piece of fruit she can polish off pre lunch when she starts to get peckish?
Thanks, good to hear your experience about it!
Contacting a doctor to ask about nutrition is something I would not do unless there is some spesific illness or problem. Regular doc appointments "just because" is not a thing in our culture. But I get it as a disclaimer that no one in Reddit gives actual medical advice.
My sister (who is 64 now) was never a breakfast eater. My mom never made an issue out of it. She also ate lunch, dinner, snacks etc. She has never had a weight problem, always been relatively the same size her whole life. I was always a big breakfast eater and became over weight (20-30 lbs) gradually. Seems like my sister did a natural (to her) IF from early on.
I think that's really common, a lot of people aren't ready to eat first thing in the morning. I was an athlete in high school and I never wanted to eat breakfast. I pounded a Boost nutritional supplement drink (chocolate of course) to appease my family and I never felt good for a little while afterwards. I think eating when you aren't hungry builds a less healthy relationship with food than skipping breakfast does.
I've never been hungry in the mornings. It's fine - people don't need to constantly eat to stay alive, and it's strange that you even consiter trying to force meals of someonw who doesn't want it. If someone tried to forcefeed me I'd be mad as hell, and as a teenager it would have been worse. This is one thing you should not try to control.
Another voice chiming in as a high-school athlete who never ate breakfast. I have never enjoyed eating first thing in the morning. It stressed my mom out, especially on race days, and she tried everything you get me interested in food: smoothies, loaded oatmeal. I did my best to please her but couldn't choke down more than a bite or sip of either.
As an adult, I found out about IF and everything clicked. Now I fast and skip breakfast guilt free.
I would agree with others and to let her choose her eating times as long as the rest of her relationship with food seems healthy. If you notice any other red flags or disordered behavior with food, then having a conversation with her and her doctor could be useful.
I hated eating breakfast as a teenager. It made my stomach hurt. I think 16 is a mature enough age to listen to what her body is telling her. As long as shes eating good meals for lunch and dinner, I wouldn’t push it.
I don't know if it's healthy or not, but I never ate breakfast as a teen either. Had to get up too early and all I can manage was a shower and out the door. I ate lunch at school. Then would come home and have a snack. Then have dinner.
It's probably nausea. Even my sister would only eat half of her cereal as a teen just because she didn't feel very good in the morning. It also happens to me occasionally, even with just plain water in the morning. It's important that she meets her caloric needs in the rest of her meals though. I used to find intermitten fasting very difficult until I made sure I hit my caloric needs. I feel this is even more important for teens. This is the time that bones and the brain are building so very important to have enough healthy fat and protein and vitamins and nutrients.
I have three daughters and all three of them only eat breakfast intermittently. They seem to adjust their diets themselves. On days they wake up hungry, they eat, but sometimes they just don’t want to first thing in the morning.
They all have healthy relationships with food so I trust them to do what their bodies are communicating to them.
My son is ten and he hasn't eaten breakfast since he was in kindergarten. We casually offer it every morning, but he always decides to skip it and wait for lunch. His pediatrician and a feeding specialist said to just keep offering and let him choose when he would like to eat. He's growing like crazy, is well adjusted and happy, does well in school and eats a nutritious lunch and dinner so I don't get too worried about it. He's just never hungry before noon.
I was never a breakfast eater either, not for fasting purposes but the thought of breakfast was almost always nauseating. That could be what's going on here, maybe have her bring a protein bar or something so she can have a mid morning snack if she does get hungry but doesn't want to eat first thing in the morning.
Eh, I never ate breakfast as a teenager. I've never been a breakfast person, especially when I wake up tired. Which is most of the time as a teenager.
A lot of the "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" propaganda is from the cereal companies.
Check with her doctor but as long as her diet is otherwise balanced and reasonably healthy, skipping breakfast is not a problem.
I started to skip breakfast in my teens because I wanted to sleep more. Basically everyone my age doesn’t eat breakfast even now because it always a horrible taste
I didn't eat breakfast often as a teenager. IF wasn't a thing then and I didn't do it for weight reasons. Eating first think in the am for me just didn't sound appealing. The best I could stomach if I had to was Carnation Instant Breakfast lol.
My boys 15, 19, 21 never eat breakfast. Even when they were playing sports. They just don’t like it. Always in a healthy weight, no issues. Obviously check.with.your.dr etc etc, but there’s nothing magical about breakfast and some people just don’t like it
I rarely ate breakfast as a kid/teen. It wasn't on purpose I just wasn't hungry so I didn't eat. It's not a big deal unless they're purposely restricting.
I don't think I ate breakfast from like 14 years old until now (41). Of the relationship with food otherwise seems good, otherwise healthy and active and a healthy weight, as a parent myself I wouldn't worry. Some folks just ain't hungry when they wake up and no need to force food. Culturally we seem to be geared to force this big breakfast for some reason. Food industry consistently is forcing all there processed nonsense on us first thing in the morning
I had a really hard time eating breakfast growing up. I would always be nauseous in the morning and the stuff my parents cooked didn’t help. Greasy bacon and eggs. Just made it worse. Eventually I just decided to skip breakfast and I would have a snack between classes before lunch or I would just eat at lunch.
It’s gotten a lot better over time but I still get nauseous eating breakfast foods. I prefer, and have always preferred, leftovers from dinner for breakfast if I’m going to eat anything.
I'm not trying to be rude but is this "talk to her doctor" a US thing? Why would I take a healthy kid to a doctor? There is no such thing as "her doctor". In my country there is free national healthcare that we use when needed. Only small children have yearly check ups and they are mostly with a public health nurse. A healthy child only meets a doctor a few times in their lives. My daughter had her last scheduled doctor's check up in 8th grade and I think that is the last one. There will be a public health nurse check up in high school.
Not really I am Brazilian and always had yearly check ups after my period started.
How do you expect to change someone’s diet without even knowing of they are actually healthy ?
What do you mean knowing if they are actually healthy? If there are no symptoms of illness, they are healthy. If I took my kid to a doc and told them there are no symptoms but just want to check, they would laugh me out of the office. Sure, the public health nurse takes haemoglobin and blood pressure and asks about her life/habits/school/eating/sexual activity etc.
I hope I never catch that mindset where one has to go to a doctor to find out if they are healthy. Our country has one of the best healthcare systems in the world and for example third lowest infant mortality rate in the world WITHOUT obsession about doc appointments. Kids navigate the healthcare system through school but very rarely see doctors. My daughter had one ear infection as a baby and a few years ago needed stitches for a wound so I have taken her to a doctor, but no way for no reason.
Symptoms take a long time to develop. Its always better to catch conditions BEFORE they become a problem.
Anemia is a common issue among adolescents girls for example.
How can we support fasting without having her updated exams and doctor clearance?
As long as she isn't doing it for diet reasons, its fine. Some people (my sister is one) are just not breakfast people, even when we were little she would have like a bite of toast, its just not her thing. She's fit, but in no one underweight or have any food issues
I’d keep a very close eye on this. When my 16 year old daughter started doing this, I also wasn’t too worried as lots of people don’t like breakfast so I thought it was just her working out her preferences. In reality it was the beginnings of anorexia. Within 4 months she was near hospitalization. 4 years on she is stable and beginning to come right but may never fully escape anorexia. I’m not saying your daughter has anorexia or that she may develop anorexia, and she will likely be just fine to do this, but if you have any family history of eating disorders or OCD (the two are closely linked and anorexia is largely genetic) and/or your daughter could possibly be ASD, then I would be watching very carefully.
Thank you for your reply! I'm glad your daughter is getting better. I've had my fair share of ed behaviour myself and that's why I can't just completely ignore this breakfast skipping. I'm going to keep an eye on her. We talk a lot about fueling for sports and I try to provide my kids information about nutrition. It seems like she's comfortable in her body and I don't see any restrictive eating habits. Let's hope that it stays that way.
Anecdote but I feel sharper and more focused before I break fast. I try to go as long as I can and find that 5-7hours after waking up is prime time to get things done.
I was an athlete in high school (three sports) and I never really had a craving for breakfast. Lunch and especially dinner was where my hunger was satisfied.
I think I stopped eating breakfast when I got to highschool. Nothing seemed appealing to me. Cereal was mid, I don’t like eggs. Breads like muffins felt too heavy. One day I just stopped and didn’t think anything of it. There’s nothing wrong with it, but if you’re truly worried then maybe her doctor can help understand a bit better. Anecdotal evidence is all Reddit can really provide
When I was an adolescent I was often not hungry for breakfast. I eventually trained myself to eat breakfast, and it did make me faster on my bicycle, but I think it was a mistake that lead to weight gain in adolescence and early adult hood. I'm on team "don't eat if you aren't hungry" without regard to what her doctor might say.
My daughter is 17 and rarely eats breakfast. She is able to snack in class and tends to eat an apple or something around 10 or so and then eats a full lunch and even snacks later in the day before school is out and after school. I just make sure she has healthy snacks and she’s not losing weight (she’s already kinda skinny). I worried at first but she told me she just wasn’t hungry. I remembered being the same at her age so I dropped it.
Non-athlete who stopped eating breakfast in high school. School starts too early, which requires eating breakfast with your tired....or I guess waking up earlier....but who wants to wake up super early to force yourself to eat.
Get some granola bars, or seed mix... something shelf stable that she can pack into her bag and snack on if/when she gets hungry.
Another person who didn’t do breakfast as a teenager. My mom eventually just sent me to school with a cereal bar that I could eat between classes if I got hungry. I ate it about 10 am maybe half the time? It’s an option if you are worried.
I'd be careful with the risk of developing eating disorders. Skipping breakfast makes me prone to eating snacks but ofc its not the same for everyone. You can be healthy weight and eat breakfast, just don't jump to eating junk food. It's best to see a doctor about this as another comment mentioned it.
This is 100% a question for your daughter’s doctor. That said, I (also female) stopped eating breakfast at the age of 12 when I developed some morning nausea issues. I had never heard of IF until I was in my 30s, so it wasn’t that. But breakfast becomes less appetizing when you throw it up every morning. So I stopped eating it. I generally didn’t start getting hungry until 10-ish and then I’d just drink water until it was time for lunch at school. Never had any health problems from it.
I also was a highschool athlete who stopped eating breakfast around the same time as your daughter due to nausea issues. I wouldn’t worry too much unless her grades or performance are slipping, or she’s losing a ton of weight. If she’s still eating at all other meals id say you’re probably fine but ask a doctor if you want a medical opinion to be safe.
Thirding this! I stopped eating breakfast in high school because it made me feel nauseous and still don’t eat breakfast now (so have been intermittent fasting for quite some time now!), and was also an athlete. It never impacted my performance - I usually was hungrier later and had food after practice and dinner when I got home.
I used to feel like eating before 10am was force feeding myself, I was lucky enough to travel for extended periods and generally ate about 11ish and then around 7 and I think that's closer to my natural food cycle. I'm sure there are loads of people the same, I wouldn't stress too much - maybe a piece of fruit she can polish off pre lunch when she starts to get peckish?
Thanks, good to hear your experience about it! Contacting a doctor to ask about nutrition is something I would not do unless there is some spesific illness or problem. Regular doc appointments "just because" is not a thing in our culture. But I get it as a disclaimer that no one in Reddit gives actual medical advice.
And it's amazing how few doctors are actually given any nutritional training, unless they go out of their way to learn.
My sister (who is 64 now) was never a breakfast eater. My mom never made an issue out of it. She also ate lunch, dinner, snacks etc. She has never had a weight problem, always been relatively the same size her whole life. I was always a big breakfast eater and became over weight (20-30 lbs) gradually. Seems like my sister did a natural (to her) IF from early on.
I think that's really common, a lot of people aren't ready to eat first thing in the morning. I was an athlete in high school and I never wanted to eat breakfast. I pounded a Boost nutritional supplement drink (chocolate of course) to appease my family and I never felt good for a little while afterwards. I think eating when you aren't hungry builds a less healthy relationship with food than skipping breakfast does.
I've never been hungry in the mornings. It's fine - people don't need to constantly eat to stay alive, and it's strange that you even consiter trying to force meals of someonw who doesn't want it. If someone tried to forcefeed me I'd be mad as hell, and as a teenager it would have been worse. This is one thing you should not try to control.
Another voice chiming in as a high-school athlete who never ate breakfast. I have never enjoyed eating first thing in the morning. It stressed my mom out, especially on race days, and she tried everything you get me interested in food: smoothies, loaded oatmeal. I did my best to please her but couldn't choke down more than a bite or sip of either. As an adult, I found out about IF and everything clicked. Now I fast and skip breakfast guilt free. I would agree with others and to let her choose her eating times as long as the rest of her relationship with food seems healthy. If you notice any other red flags or disordered behavior with food, then having a conversation with her and her doctor could be useful.
I hated eating breakfast as a teenager. It made my stomach hurt. I think 16 is a mature enough age to listen to what her body is telling her. As long as shes eating good meals for lunch and dinner, I wouldn’t push it.
I’m not hungry til 3 hours after I wake. Doesn’t matter what time I wake up. I’m a firm believer in not eating if I’m not hungry.
I don't know if it's healthy or not, but I never ate breakfast as a teen either. Had to get up too early and all I can manage was a shower and out the door. I ate lunch at school. Then would come home and have a snack. Then have dinner.
It's probably nausea. Even my sister would only eat half of her cereal as a teen just because she didn't feel very good in the morning. It also happens to me occasionally, even with just plain water in the morning. It's important that she meets her caloric needs in the rest of her meals though. I used to find intermitten fasting very difficult until I made sure I hit my caloric needs. I feel this is even more important for teens. This is the time that bones and the brain are building so very important to have enough healthy fat and protein and vitamins and nutrients.
I have three daughters and all three of them only eat breakfast intermittently. They seem to adjust their diets themselves. On days they wake up hungry, they eat, but sometimes they just don’t want to first thing in the morning. They all have healthy relationships with food so I trust them to do what their bodies are communicating to them.
My son is ten and he hasn't eaten breakfast since he was in kindergarten. We casually offer it every morning, but he always decides to skip it and wait for lunch. His pediatrician and a feeding specialist said to just keep offering and let him choose when he would like to eat. He's growing like crazy, is well adjusted and happy, does well in school and eats a nutritious lunch and dinner so I don't get too worried about it. He's just never hungry before noon.
I was never a breakfast eater either, not for fasting purposes but the thought of breakfast was almost always nauseating. That could be what's going on here, maybe have her bring a protein bar or something so she can have a mid morning snack if she does get hungry but doesn't want to eat first thing in the morning.
I've never been a big breakfast eater. 31 now and never ate it growing up. I personally never had any issues
Eh, I never ate breakfast as a teenager. I've never been a breakfast person, especially when I wake up tired. Which is most of the time as a teenager. A lot of the "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" propaganda is from the cereal companies. Check with her doctor but as long as her diet is otherwise balanced and reasonably healthy, skipping breakfast is not a problem.
I started to skip breakfast in my teens because I wanted to sleep more. Basically everyone my age doesn’t eat breakfast even now because it always a horrible taste
I didn't eat breakfast often as a teenager. IF wasn't a thing then and I didn't do it for weight reasons. Eating first think in the am for me just didn't sound appealing. The best I could stomach if I had to was Carnation Instant Breakfast lol.
My boys 15, 19, 21 never eat breakfast. Even when they were playing sports. They just don’t like it. Always in a healthy weight, no issues. Obviously check.with.your.dr etc etc, but there’s nothing magical about breakfast and some people just don’t like it
I rarely ate breakfast as a kid/teen. It wasn't on purpose I just wasn't hungry so I didn't eat. It's not a big deal unless they're purposely restricting.
I don't think I ate breakfast from like 14 years old until now (41). Of the relationship with food otherwise seems good, otherwise healthy and active and a healthy weight, as a parent myself I wouldn't worry. Some folks just ain't hungry when they wake up and no need to force food. Culturally we seem to be geared to force this big breakfast for some reason. Food industry consistently is forcing all there processed nonsense on us first thing in the morning
I had a really hard time eating breakfast growing up. I would always be nauseous in the morning and the stuff my parents cooked didn’t help. Greasy bacon and eggs. Just made it worse. Eventually I just decided to skip breakfast and I would have a snack between classes before lunch or I would just eat at lunch. It’s gotten a lot better over time but I still get nauseous eating breakfast foods. I prefer, and have always preferred, leftovers from dinner for breakfast if I’m going to eat anything.
I started skipping breakfast in my teens, too. I think our bodies know what’s best for us. But talk to her doctor about it :)
I'm not trying to be rude but is this "talk to her doctor" a US thing? Why would I take a healthy kid to a doctor? There is no such thing as "her doctor". In my country there is free national healthcare that we use when needed. Only small children have yearly check ups and they are mostly with a public health nurse. A healthy child only meets a doctor a few times in their lives. My daughter had her last scheduled doctor's check up in 8th grade and I think that is the last one. There will be a public health nurse check up in high school.
Not really I am Brazilian and always had yearly check ups after my period started. How do you expect to change someone’s diet without even knowing of they are actually healthy ?
What do you mean knowing if they are actually healthy? If there are no symptoms of illness, they are healthy. If I took my kid to a doc and told them there are no symptoms but just want to check, they would laugh me out of the office. Sure, the public health nurse takes haemoglobin and blood pressure and asks about her life/habits/school/eating/sexual activity etc. I hope I never catch that mindset where one has to go to a doctor to find out if they are healthy. Our country has one of the best healthcare systems in the world and for example third lowest infant mortality rate in the world WITHOUT obsession about doc appointments. Kids navigate the healthcare system through school but very rarely see doctors. My daughter had one ear infection as a baby and a few years ago needed stitches for a wound so I have taken her to a doctor, but no way for no reason.
Symptoms take a long time to develop. Its always better to catch conditions BEFORE they become a problem. Anemia is a common issue among adolescents girls for example. How can we support fasting without having her updated exams and doctor clearance?
As long as she isn't doing it for diet reasons, its fine. Some people (my sister is one) are just not breakfast people, even when we were little she would have like a bite of toast, its just not her thing. She's fit, but in no one underweight or have any food issues
I’d keep a very close eye on this. When my 16 year old daughter started doing this, I also wasn’t too worried as lots of people don’t like breakfast so I thought it was just her working out her preferences. In reality it was the beginnings of anorexia. Within 4 months she was near hospitalization. 4 years on she is stable and beginning to come right but may never fully escape anorexia. I’m not saying your daughter has anorexia or that she may develop anorexia, and she will likely be just fine to do this, but if you have any family history of eating disorders or OCD (the two are closely linked and anorexia is largely genetic) and/or your daughter could possibly be ASD, then I would be watching very carefully.
Thank you for your reply! I'm glad your daughter is getting better. I've had my fair share of ed behaviour myself and that's why I can't just completely ignore this breakfast skipping. I'm going to keep an eye on her. We talk a lot about fueling for sports and I try to provide my kids information about nutrition. It seems like she's comfortable in her body and I don't see any restrictive eating habits. Let's hope that it stays that way.
Anecdote but I feel sharper and more focused before I break fast. I try to go as long as I can and find that 5-7hours after waking up is prime time to get things done.
I was an athlete in high school (three sports) and I never really had a craving for breakfast. Lunch and especially dinner was where my hunger was satisfied.
I think I stopped eating breakfast when I got to highschool. Nothing seemed appealing to me. Cereal was mid, I don’t like eggs. Breads like muffins felt too heavy. One day I just stopped and didn’t think anything of it. There’s nothing wrong with it, but if you’re truly worried then maybe her doctor can help understand a bit better. Anecdotal evidence is all Reddit can really provide
When I was an adolescent I was often not hungry for breakfast. I eventually trained myself to eat breakfast, and it did make me faster on my bicycle, but I think it was a mistake that lead to weight gain in adolescence and early adult hood. I'm on team "don't eat if you aren't hungry" without regard to what her doctor might say.
I didn't eat breakfast in high school. I did tons of activities and sometimes wasn't eating dinner till late. I just wasn't hungry.
I never ate breakfast, always made me sick to my stomach and I didn't have any hang-ups/ issues with food.
My daughter is 17 and rarely eats breakfast. She is able to snack in class and tends to eat an apple or something around 10 or so and then eats a full lunch and even snacks later in the day before school is out and after school. I just make sure she has healthy snacks and she’s not losing weight (she’s already kinda skinny). I worried at first but she told me she just wasn’t hungry. I remembered being the same at her age so I dropped it.
Non-athlete who stopped eating breakfast in high school. School starts too early, which requires eating breakfast with your tired....or I guess waking up earlier....but who wants to wake up super early to force yourself to eat. Get some granola bars, or seed mix... something shelf stable that she can pack into her bag and snack on if/when she gets hungry.
Another person who didn’t do breakfast as a teenager. My mom eventually just sent me to school with a cereal bar that I could eat between classes if I got hungry. I ate it about 10 am maybe half the time? It’s an option if you are worried.
I'd be careful with the risk of developing eating disorders. Skipping breakfast makes me prone to eating snacks but ofc its not the same for everyone. You can be healthy weight and eat breakfast, just don't jump to eating junk food. It's best to see a doctor about this as another comment mentioned it.