Demographic and Parental Influences on Breakfast Consumption Rates

Promoting breakfast eating among children has many benefits, including improved cognitive and physical abilities, increased likelihood of meeting the recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake, and decreased unhealthy snacking. The Ministry of Health’s Food and Nutrition Guidelines highlight the importance of eating three healthy meals every day, including breakfast.

The Breakfast-eaters programme run by the Health Promotion Agency (HPA) encourages families with children to eat a healthy breakfast every day. HPA monitors both children’s and their parents/caregivers’ breakfast eating habits in the Health and Lifestyles Survey (HLS), as parental breakfast consumption has been found to be an important predictor of whether a child eats breakfast or not.