Teenagers with poor breakfast habits have an increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome as adults, according to a recent study Fox News reported.

Researchers from Umea University in Sweden found that teenagers who skipped morning meals or simply consumed something sweet for breakfast , are 68 percent more likely to develop metabolic syndrome - a group of risk factors that are associated with heart disease, diabetes and stroke - than those who had a more substantial breakfast.

The research team started their study in 1981, asking 889 16-year-old students about their breakfast habits. Of the participants 9.9 percent were classified was having poor eating habits.

In 2008, 27 years after the start of the study, researchers checked back with participants. They found that those who had poor breakfast habits as adolescents were 68 percent more likely to have developed metabolic syndrome. They found that abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, and high levels of harmful triglycerides were associated with those who missed morning meals when they were teens.

Researchers said their conclusion was drawn after taking into account socioeconomic factors and other lifestyle habits of the adolescents in question.

In a statement, Maria Wennberg, the study's main author from the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Family Medicine at the university, said more studies are needed to confirm this association.

"Further studies are required for us to be able to understand the mechanisms involved in the connection between poor breakfast and metabolic syndrome, but our results and those of several previous studies suggest that a poor breakfast can have a negative effect on blood sugar regulation," Wennberg said.

According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, someone with metabolic syndrome is two times as likely to develop heart disease and five times as likely to develop diabetes as someone who doesn't have metabolic syndrome. The condition also increases the risk for heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

The study was recently published in the journal Public Health Nutrition.