Skipping breakfast can become a daily routine for students, leading to health problems and trouble focusing in class. However, there are ways to combat this, depending on the reasons for which breakfast is skipped.

In a survey conducted in homerooms on November 3 and 4, of the 190 survey respondents, 54 percent say that they don’t eat breakfast every day, while 17 percent of respondents don’t eat breakfast at all.

“I do believe that it [skipping breakfast] is all a matter of time, at least here at the high school,” school nurse Justine Fishman said.

Many people have differing views on why breakfast is skipped.

Of those who said they don’t eat breakfast on any given day, about 51 percent said it was due to lack of time. The second most popular answer, with 34 percent of respondents, was “not hungry in the morning.”

“I think that they [students] are tired from doing a lot of work, from being involved in many activities, and so I think a lot of teenagers are sleeping in in the morning and just are rushed to get to school, so breakfast is one of those things that people tend to just not make a priority,” science teacher Elisa Drake said.

According to Fishman, skipping breakfast can affect one’s health by causing headaches, fatigue, lack of concentration, and stomachaches. Usually, when students skip breakfast, they’ve gone without food since the previous night’s dinner. That could be fifteen hours until the next time they have a meal, which is lunch.

“That’s an awfully long time to go without fueling and putting energy into your system,” Fishman said.

There are many options to eat breakfast at school; most teachers permit students to eat in class.

“It doesn’t have to be what we consider a traditional breakfast,” school nurse Sheree Caron said. “It could be cheese and bread. It could be half a peanut butter sandwich.”

According to Fishman, students can also leave food in the health office, so they can eliminate the chance of forgetting to bring something. After homeroom, a student can swing by the office and pick up their granola bar, for example. The cafeteria also offers the option to purchase breakfast.

“It’s very difficult in the morning for kids to make the time where you’d rather get an extra 10 or 15 minutes of sleep than sit at the table and have a breakfast,” Fishman said.

Pre-planning and having “grab-and-go” food readily available can help.

“Something’s better than nothing, I think,” Caron said. “You want to try to avoid sugary things in the morning if you can. You can boil a hard-boiled egg the night before and just grab it and take it with you. Fresh fruits are pretty easy to grab and go.”

“I do skip breakfast, but I regret it every single time,” freshman Yasmin Massoudi said.