It’s commonly said that eating breakfast fuels the day. Now there’s another reason to start off with a morning meal.

A study by University of Minnesota School of Public Health researchers has found consuming breakfast daily, regardless of diet quality, is strongly associated with a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The latest study, led by researcher Andrew O. Odegaard, Ph.D., from the School of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, appears today in the online version of journal Diabetes Care.

“Dietary guidelines have recently recommended that people eat something in the morning, but the relationship between breakfast intake frequency and metabolic risk, like type 2 diabetes, hasn’t been well studied until now,” said Odegaard.

In November 2012, as part of Diabetes Awareness Month, Health Talk discussed several diabetes studies taking place at the University of Minnesota to better understand and treat the disease. One of the studies focused on diabetes’ effects in the Somali community.

The study, “Understanding diabetes in Somali children in the Twin Cities, Minnesota,” is led by Muna Sunni, M.B.B.Ch., a University of Minnesota pediatric endocrinology fellow, and Antoinette Moran, M.D., a professor of pediatrics in the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Here’s a quick recap of the study:

The University of Minnesota celebrated the opening of the “gateway to the Biomedical Discovery District,” the new Cancer and Cardiovascular Research Building (CCRB), earlier today.

The CCRB is the fifth addition to the University’s Biomedical Discovery District, a complex of the most advanced research buildings found anywhere in the state. The facility joins the Lions Research Building, the McGuire Translational Research Facility, the Winston and Maxine Wallin Medical Biosciences Building and the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research.

A research team led by pediatric blood and marrow transplantation experts Mark Osborn, Ph.D. and Jakub Tolar, M.D., Ph.D. from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, have discovered a remarkable new way to repair genetic defects in the skin cells of patients with the skin disease epidermolysis bullosa.

The findings, published today in the journal Molecular Therapy and highlighted in the most recent issue of Nature, represent the first time researchers been able to correct a disease-causing gene in its natural location in the human genome using engineered transcription activator-like effector nucleases.

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a skin disease caused by genetic mutations. Patients suffering from EB – primarily children – lack the proteins that hold the epidermis and dermis together, which leads to painful blistering and sores. The condition is often deadly. The University of Minnesota is an international leader in the treatment of EB and the research that has led to new treatment approaches.

Editor’s note: For more news of the JAMA study please visit our Storify page.

New research from researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School shows that Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery is twice as effective for the control of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia when compared to intensive lifestyle medical management consisting of dietary change, physical activity, exercise and medication.

The study, “Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass vs. Intensive Medical Management for the Control of Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension, and Hyperlipidemia” appears in the June 5, 2013, issue of the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), and was led by Sayeed Ikramuddin, M.D., professor of surgery at the University of Minnesota.

A new University of Minnesota study shows that the recession of 2007 to 2009 led to a decline in out-of-pocket spending for privately insured children with special health care needs. Using data from the nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, researchers also found that children without such needs were not affected by the recession. However, all adults in those children’s families had significantly lower out-of-pocket spending during the recession. This finding suggests that parents may reduce their personal medical care during difficult economic times to meet their children’s health care needs.

The analysis, “Recession Led To A Decline In Out-Of-Pocket Spending For Children With Special Health Care Needs” appears in the June issue of Health Affairs, and was led by Pinar Karaca-Mandic, Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.