Thirty-nine percent of Canadian students skip breakfast, survey finds

14 Mar 2018 --- Despite widespread availability of morning meal programs, a large number of Canadian students are still skipping breakfast, according to a study from the University of Waterloo. Looking at the eating habits of 42,000 students from 87 secondary schools in Alberta and Ontario during the 2014/2015 school year, the study found that 39 percent of students reported eating breakfast fewer than three days in a typical school week.

The findings were consistent with national data that showed nationwide, 48.5 percent of adolescents skipped breakfast at least once a week.

“In spite of the widely-acknowledged value of youth having a healthy morning meal, breakfast skipping is highly prevalent among Canadian adolescents,” says Katelyn Godin, a doctoral candidate at Waterloo and lead author of the study. 

“While we do know that breakfast programs are having a positive impact, with one-fifth of adolescents reporting eating breakfast at school once-a-week, there is still room for improvement,” she adds.

Godin said breakfast programs are not reaching their full potential in Canada due to a lack of social awareness about their diverse benefits, lingering social stigma and limited economic support for the programs.

“Canadian breakfast programs are currently supported by a patchwork of funding and would benefit from something more consistent,” says Godin.

NutritionInsight reported earlier that one in four consumers spend less than five minutes on breakfast on weekdays, and half of consumers spend less than 15 minutes on breakfast. The findings are some of the results of DSM’s Breakfast Insights survey, which also include suggestions that the main reason for skipping breakfast is lack of time and consumers are paying more attention to the lack of sugar in their breakfast.

DSM’s survey of 3,500 consumers – 500 per country – was carried out in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Sweden, the UK and the US. Consumers were 18-64 years of age. Of those asked, 78 percent agreed that breakfast should be convenient to prepare and eat, and 85 percent of people said that they eat breakfast daily.

“The first thing that came out of the study – I think this is the most important thing – is we want to eat something, but with our busy lifestyles we are increasingly time-pressed to do so,” explained Steve Hufton, DSM Food Specialties Communications & External Affairs (pictured), during DSM’s press presentation at FiE 2017.

Among those who do skip breakfast, DSM notes that the primary reason for doing so is lack of time – 39 percent of people who skip breakfast do so because they don’t have time. “There are only very few people [8 percent] who do so because they’re trying to watch their weight,” Hufton noted.

“There’s been study after study that shows people who have a decent filling breakfast with quality, healthy foods tend to have better health outcomes,” commented Hufton on breakfast habits as a whole. “Our willpower, psychologists tell us, tends to be strong in the morning, so it’s easier for us to make the right choices. We’re less tempted to go for the treats and things like that.”