London: It may not be the healthy way to shed flab, but a number of teenage girls have admitted skipping breakfast and lunch regularly in an apparent effort to stay slim as celebrity roles, a survey has revealed.
In fact, a third of 14 and 15-year-old girls regularly skip breakfast in order to lose weight while one in five skip lunch and up to one in 12 routinely goes without either, the survey has found.
Asked about their breakfast on the day of the poll, 31 per cent of girls in year 10 - aged 14 and 15 - admitted eating nothing at all. Twentyfour per cent of 12 and 13-year- old girls had skipped it while 12 per cent of 10 and 11-year-olds had also gone without.
At the same time, 18 per cent of older girls and 14 per cent of 12 and 13-year-olds skipped lunch the day before. Some eight per cent had eaten neither breakfast nor lunch the previous day.
Claire Rick, a spokesman for the School Food Trust, which commissioned the survey, was quoted as saying, "Skipping lunch doesn`t just leave pupils feeling hungry and tired - it really does affect their performance in the classroom."
Asked about their breakfast on the day of the poll, 31 per cent of girls in year 10 - aged 14 and 15 - admitted eating nothing at all. Twentyfour per cent of 12 and 13-year- old girls had skipped it while 12 per cent of 10 and 11-year-olds had also gone without.
At the same time, 18 per cent of older girls and 14 per cent of 12 and 13-year-olds skipped lunch the day before. Some eight per cent had eaten neither breakfast nor lunch the previous day.
Claire Rick, a spokesman for the School Food Trust, which commissioned the survey, was quoted as saying, "Skipping lunch doesn`t just leave pupils feeling hungry and tired - it really does affect their performance in the classroom."