As a kid, did your mom warn you about skipping breakfast as you ran out the door for school? Turns out, mom was on to something.

Skipping breakfast and hitting the road with only a coffee or juice may heighten the risk of your arteries getting clogged with plaque, which can lead to heart attack or stroke. That’s according to a recent study reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Plaque in the arteries of study participants who regularly skipped breakfast was nearly three times more common than in those who ate a morning meal.

The study by researchers in the United States and Europe involved more than 4,000 employees of a large Spanish bank, ages 40 to 54, none of whom had a history of cardiovascular disease.

Participants were surveyed about their diet and were classified in three categories: breakfast skippers, low-energy breakfast eaters and those who ate a high-energy meal.

The researchers also scanned the participants for any evidence of hardening of the arteries, called atherosclerosis.

They found the no-breakfast folks were most likely to show signs of the early onset of atherosclerosis. The low-energy group, or those whose breakfast was up to 20 percent of their daily calorie consumption, had plaque buildup that was one-and-a-half times more common.

Those in the high-energy group, who consumed more than 20 percent of their calories at breakfast, had the lowest risk of all.

Researchers said the heavier morning meal may make for better glucose regulation during the day. And having a full stomach may makes us less prone to overeat later in the day.

Without breakfast, candy and chips in the vending machine may look a lot more enticing. Mom would not approve.