I started asking the breakfast question after I was selected as the official physician of the Mamaroneck School District, responsible for examining athletes who had not been cleared by their own physicians before the playing season began.

Once the school nurse weighs and measures each player, I get to ask them six questions. They nod and doze through the usual roll call of allergies and medications, but I take them by surprise with my zinger, “Did you eat breakfast this morning?”

I bet silently with myself as to whether a kid is a breakfast eater. Alert, polite, together, friendly, “raring-to-go” kids are usually the ones who say yes. The ones with other agendas, poor organization, or an apparent yen for Twinkies typically say no.

The breakfast question gives me a lot of information. For example:

• Whether a parent is at home in the morning before school (“No, my Mom isn’t there to wake me up.”)

• How disorganized the teen is (“I don’t have time for breakfast.”)

• What the choices of food are (“I had McDonald’s with a Coke for breakfast.”)

• Which teens have made breakfast a habit (“I can’t leave home without it.”)

• Whether they just can’t tolerate food in the morning (“Do you want to see me throw up?”)

In a typical group of twenty or so football players, I generally find no more than three who have eaten breakfast. But many of the players qualify as morbidly obese and should eat breakfast for good weight control.

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Issue: March 2008