Research conducted in May 2008 by YouGov of over 2,000 UK adults, including parents of children aged 12-17, found that the health benefits of breakfast communicated by healthy eating campaigners are finally getting through to most adults, but there are still those yet to commit to the most important meal of the day every day.
Some interesting findings from the research:
- 1 in 10 UK adults admit they never eat breakfast; which means 90% of the UK population does eat breakfast – hooray!
- Of those that do eat breakfast, 62% do so everyday; a slight increase on previous research (2006), which reported 58% of respondents eat breakfast every day.
- A bowl of cereal is the most popular choice among breakfast eaters, with 67% having cereal at least once a week. 38% also have brown bread or toast at least once a week and 34% eat white bread or toast.
- Of those that eat cereal for breakfast once a week or more, almost all (95%) do so with milk. One in five also adds fruit to their cereal.
- 6 in 10 adults agree, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day". Just over half (53%) believe "cereal with milk is a source of sustainable energy that helps people get through to lunch."
- Many survey respondents also agreed that benefits to eating a healthy breakfast include: "reduces snacking later in the day" (75%); "improves physical performance" (70%); as well as "increasing mental performance" (65%). Only 2% of people surveyed said they thought there were no benefits to eating a healthy breakfast.
- Women are more likely to eat breakfast, with only 7% saying they never eat it compared to 13% of men. Similarly, of those who eat breakfast, women are more likely to eat breakfast everyday (65% compared to 58% of men).
- Those that don't eat breakfast every day blame lack of hunger (43%) and not having enough time (37%) as the main reasons why they skip. Getting out of bed too late (29%) and not being bothered (23%) were also cited as reasons.
- 58% of parents with children aged 12-17 claim their child eats breakfast every day, indicating 40% of kids in this age group skip breakfast at least one day per week.
- Only 5% of all UK adults claim they never consume milk and 71% do so with cereal.
- When asked how many times milk drinkers consume milk on an average day (other than with cereal), 10% said less than once a day. If cereal was not available, only 33% think they would still have as much milk compared to 50% that think they would still have milk, but not as much.
- Of those whose children consume milk, almost half (49%) say that apart from with cereal their children drink milk once a day or less often (29% once a day and 20% less than once a day). 5% claim their child only ever has milk when it's with cereal.
