An informal survey of 23 seventh-grade students revealed that only 1 of the 23 had eaten a breakfast consisting primarily of eggs, fruit, or yogurt.
The complete results of the survey are shown in the table below.
- Eggs with ham and potatoes – 1
- Cold Pizza – 1
- Waffle ice cream sandwich – 1
- Cereal with fruit – 2
- Waffles or pancakes – 2
- Juice or coffee only – 2
- Granola or protein bar – 2
- Cereal without fruit – 3
- Donut, muffin, or pastry (includes toaster pastries) – 4
- Nothing – 5
Equally alarming as the fact that more than 20% of the children skipped breakfast is the reveal that more children drank coffee in the morning than drank milk or juice (7 – 6).
Breakfast is regularly referred to as “the most important meal of the day” and yet here we see a class of seventh-graders whose families seem not to have gotten the message.
What are your experiences with children and breakfast? What do you suspect might be the reasons behind the results of our survey? Please share your thoughts below.