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Wang Ziyu, a 14-year-old middle school student in Shanghai, rarely eats breakfast. And even when he does, his meal typically consists of fried foods cooked in the school canteen, "which are meant to appeal to students' tastes".

"I leave for school at 6:30 am every day and find it inconvenient to have breakfast on the bus," Wang said.

The boy, who weighs more than 90 kg, is now heavy enough to be considered obese. Cases like his are not rare among the young in China.

More children and teens in the past decade have seen their health harmed by undernourishing breakfasts, imbalanced diets and a habit of eating out, according to the 2011 Report on Chinese Students' Nutrition and Health Conditions.

The report, released by the Chinese Association for Student Nutrition and Health Promotion, was based on survey data collected by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in four cities - Shanghai, Harbin, Jinan and Guangzhou - in 1998 and 2008.

The report contends that unhealthy habits have made chronic diseases more common among the young.

According to the report, a nutritious breakfast should include five kinds of food: grain, milk, eggs, vegetables and fruits. The findings concluded that the proportion of students who eat a nutritious breakfast had dropped from 12.2 percent in 1998 to 3.3 percent in 2008.

Meanwhile, the proportion of students who eat an undernourishing breakfast, consisting at the most two of the five types of food, had risen from nearly 50 percent to nearly 80 percent in that time.

"Poor breakfasts harm not only the health of children, but also their learning and physical abilities," Ma Guansheng, vice-chairman of the Chinese Association for Student Nutrition and Health Promotion, said on Tuesday.

Nutritionists said parents deserve much of the blame for their children's bad eating habits.

Beijing primary and middle schools recently began offering nutrition education courses, a step that experts said provided a means of teaching students more about the benefits of healthy diets.

Questions:

1. What is considered a nutritious breakfast?

2. How many kids eat a healthy breakfast?

3. What is the result of such findings?

Answers:

1. One that includes five kinds of food: grain, milk, eggs, vegetables and fruits.

2. A report says the proportion of students who eat a nutritious breakfast dropped from 12.2 percent in 1998 to 3.3 percent in 2008.

3. Unhealthy habits have made chronic diseases more common among the young.

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.