'Miss breakfast, put on weight'

One in three women regularly skips breakfast because of the rush to get the children ready for school or the desire to lose weight, a new survey shows.

But health experts said habitually missing breakfast can lead to snacking, resulting in weight gain, or to health problems including osteoporosis and muscle-wasting as the body misses out on vital nutrients.

The survey of 1,000 women, for Bitesize Shredded Wheat, comes a day after a senior government scientist denounced fad diets, such as the Atkins diet, as a "massive health risk".