Breakfast eating patterns and drivers of a healthy breakfast composition

Breakfast has long been described as the most important meal of the day. While breakfast habits and their consequenceson children's health and performance are well documented, studies on the adult population are lacking. The presentstudy will fill this gap, providing a comprehensive picture of the Swiss breakfast habits and insights into the de-terminants of a healthy breakfast composition. Data were collected through a postal survey sent out to a randomlyselected sample of 1917 German-speaking Swiss residents, yielding a final sample size of N=460. Breakfast habitswere disclosed, and individual breakfast healthiness scores were assessed by two nutrition specialists. A multiple re-gression analysis was then performed to investigate the influence of several motivational, socio-demographic, health-and knowledge-related determinants on breakfast healthiness. The sample showed recommendable habits in terms ofconsumption frequency and quite traditional eating patterns, illustrated by the prevalence of continental breakfasts andequally marked by the frequent consumption of dairy products. Overall, the Swiss breakfast composition is moderatelyhealthy, lacking fruits and whole grain products. Paying attention to healthy food choices in general, higher educationlevel, being a woman and reporting to be fit are factors linked to a healthier breakfast composition; while preferencesfor low-fat, familiar or convenient foods are correlated to less healthy patterns. Given the parallel between the de-terminants of a healthy breakfast composition and those of a healthy diet and taking some limiting factors, such asconsumers preference for convenience and strong habits, into account, we support the current nutritional advice fo-cusing on balancing the diet over the day or the week rather than on recommendations dedicated to specific meals.