Narrator: This is Science Today. Have you ever thought that skipping breakfast would be an easy way to cut back calories? Well, a nationwide study out of the University of California, Berkeley, has found that skipping breakfast is actually bad for keeping off weight. Nutritional epidemiologist, Gladys Block, explains.

Block: People might think that if they skip breakfast that they're doing themselves a favor, and in fact they're not. And in fact it was interesting because the people who skip breakfast actually had lower total energy, total calorie intake, and yet they had much higher body mass index.

Narrator: Block says that skipping breakfast represents disordered eating habits associated with weight gain and that the nature of what you have for breakfast also makes a big difference.

Block: The people who had eggs and bacon for breakfast were the highest body weight actually, whereas people who had breakfast cereal for breakfast were among the lowest. So maybe the actual nature of your breakfast makes a difference in addition to eating it at all.

Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.