A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology showed that skipping breakfast may be connected to an increased risk of cardiovascular-related death, especially stroke-related death.

"Breakfast is traditionally believed as the most or at least one of the most important meals of the day, but there are not much data available to say 'yes' or 'no' to this belief. Our paper is among the ones that provide evidence to support long-term benefits," assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City and senior author of the study, Dr. Wei Bao, explained.

The study took into consideration the person’s age, sex, race, socioeconomic status, diet, lifestyle, body mass index and disease status, and, accordingly, has discovered that those who never had breakfast had an 87% higher risk of cardiovascular mortality compared to those who did, everyday.

It examined data from 1988 to 1994 on 6,550 US adults, aged 40 to 75, who reported how often they ate breakfast in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Although the study did not mention the types of foods and drinks to be consumed at breakfast, it showed the risks of skipping it and its connection to increased risk of obesity, elevated cholesterol or fats in the blood, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and heart disease.

"There are a few cardiovascular risk factors, for example, diabetes, hypertension, and lipid disorders. Our findings are in line with and supported by previous studies that consistently showed that skipping breakfast is related to those strong risk factors for cardiovascular death,” Bao stated.