It has been said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but according to a study on ScienceDaily.com, it goes beyond just staving your hunger--it may actually make your kids smarter.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing studied data from 1,269 six-year-old children in China and found that those who didn't regularly eat breakfast had "5.58 points lower verbal, 2.50 points lower performance, and 4.6 points lower total IQ scores" as compared to children who ate a hearty first meal every day.

According to lead author Jianghong-Liu, it is at age six when a child's brain development is at its peak. Breakfast serves as a brain booster after a night without food intake, so it's important that children are able to consume the right amount of nutrients in order to foster cognitive growth.

Dr. Jianghong-Liu explains, "Childhood is a critical period in which dietary and lifestyle patterns are initiated, and these habits can have important immediate and long-term implications. Breakfast habits appear to be no exception, and irregular breakfast eating has already been associated with a number of unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, frequent alcohol use, and infrequent exercise."

Given the benefits of breakfast, don't let your kids skip the first meal of the day.

(Photo by eyeliam via Flickr Creative Commons)