College and university students' breakfast consumption patterns: Behaviours, beliefs, motivations and personal and environmental influences

Behaviours, Beliefs, Motivations and Personal and Environmental Influences1

Abstract/Resume

This qualitative study was designed to identify the beliefs, motivations and personal and environmental influences shaping breakfast consumption patterns of a group of college and university students. Twenty-eight women and 28 men participated in individual interviews where they discussed their usual breakfast habits and their beliefs about this meal. Most of the participants always or usually ate breakfast. Weekday breakfasts were consistent, convenient and included a small number of foods, while weekend breakfasts were more varied and sometimes included richer foods that required more preparation time. Breakfast was believed to be an important meal, providing energy and increasing productivity during the morning. The marked similarities in participants' beliefs and practices demonstrated the strong definition that breakfast has within mass North American culture. However, there were variations between individuals, with specific practices being influenced by personal food preferences, time availability, health beliefs and concerns, food availability, and the physical and social environment. Nutrition intervention programs encouraging regular consumption of a healthy breakfast should recognize the factors that relate to commonalities and differences in students' breakfast eating habits and help participants identify strategies that would work for their particular situation. (Can J Diet Prac Res 1998; 59:176-182)

Cette etude qualitative avait pour but de determiner les croyances, les motivations ainsi que les influences personnelles et environnementales qui expliquent les profils de consommation du petit dejeuner chez un groupe d'etudiants du college et de l'universite. Au total, 28 femmes et 28 hommes ont participe a des entrevues individuelles au cours desquelles ils exposaient leurs habitudes et leurs croyances relatives au petit dejeuner. La plupart des participants prenaient toujours ou habituellement un petit dejeuner. Pendant la semaine, les petits dejeuners se ressemblaient, etaient faciles a preparer et comprenaient un petit nombre d'aliments. En revanche, ceux du weekend etaient plus varies et renfermaient parfois des aliments plus riches qui demandaient plus de preparation. Le petit dejeuner etait considere comme un repas important, qui fournit de l'energie et accroit la productivite au cours de la matinee. Les fortes ressemblances des croyances et des habitudes parmi les participants refletaient la place importante qu'occupe le petit dejeuner dans la culture nord-americaine. Les auteures ont toutefois observe des variations entre les personnes, et les habitudes particulieres etaient influencees par les preferences alimentaires personnelles, l'emploi du temps, les croyances et preoccupations en matiere de sante, la disponibilite des aliments et l'environnement physique et social. Les programmes d'intervention en nutrition qui encouragent la consommation reguliere d'un petit dejeuner sain devraient reconnaitre les facteurs lies aux ressemblances et differences dans les habitudes alimentaires des etudiants en cette matiere et aider les participants a definir des strategies applicables a leur situation particuliere. (Rev can prat rech dietet 1998; 59:176-182)

INTRODUCTION

A variety of studies have demonstrated positive effects of consuming breakfast, including both nutritional and behavioural benefits. With regards to nutrition, people who eat breakfast are more likely to have adequate micronutrient intakes, higher intakes of fibre and a lower percentage of calories coming from fat (1,2). Those who choose ready-- to-eat cereals obtain more vitamins and minerals than those who do not and are also more likely to have higher calcium intakes because of the milk consumed with ready-to-eat cereals (3). Behavioural studies have shown that children who do not consume breakfast have decreased speed and accuracy in retrieving information from memory (4). Breakfast consumption also relates to a reduction in impulsive snacking throughout the day (2).

Despite these advantages, many people do not always eat breakfast. Canadian surveys have found that approximately 30% of adults do not consume breakfast regularly (5). Young adults appear to have the lowest breakfast consumption rates: just over 50% consume breakfast regularly and about 30% rarely consume this meal (5,6). U.S. studies have had similar findings, with a quarter to a third of young adults reporting no breakfast consumption (6-9). Given the nutritional benefits of breakfast consumption, these findings of prevalent breakfast skipping among young adults suggest that promoting regular consumption of a healthy breakfast would be an appropriate goal of nutrition education programs for this population.

In their review of the effectiveness of nutrition education, Contento, et al. (10) note that effective nutrition education for adults should include motivational messages about potential consequences and reinforcers that are relevant to the concerns of the target group. In addition, such programs should address personal factors and environmental facilitators and barriers that relate to performance of the desired nutrition behaviours. Development of a breakfast promotion program for young adults therefore requires formative evaluation research to learn about the perceptions, values, motivators and other behavioural influences affecting the breakfast consumption habits of members of the target group. Insights from young adults who consume breakfast may be particularly useful in identifying the relevant facilitators, consequences and reinforcers, while insights from breakfast skippers may provide more information about the barriers to regular breakfast consumption.

The study described here used qualitative methods to explore the breakfast eating habits of a group of college and university students. The purpose of the paper is to identify and describe the beliefs, motivations and personal and environmental influences shaping breakfast patterns in this population.

METHODS

The interviews discussed here were conducted as a part of a larger study examining college students' eating habits. Findings from the quantitative portion of the study are described elsewhere (1). A qualitative approach was used in the part of the study described here as this approach is particularly suited for eliciting insiders' explanations of their behaviours and for understanding how behaviours of a specific group are shaped by shared subjective meanings and social context (11,12).

Subject recruitment

Volunteers were recruited from four post-secondary institutions that represented a range of types of post-secondary institutions (a university, a technical college, and two community colleges) and were easily accessible to the researchers. Permission was obtained from appropriate administrative bodies at each institution and recruitment notices were posted in a variety of public areas accessible to all students on each campus. The posters identified the research as "a study of the eating habits of British Columbia students" and highlighted the $30 honorarium study participants would receive. A total of 112 students (14 females and 14 males from each institution) participated in the larger study, which involved collection of three non-consecutive 24-hour diet recalls. A stratified randomization procedure was used to assign half the women and half the men from each institution to the individual interviews described in this paper. All participants were 18-24 years of age, registered as a student at one of the four institutions, consuming a non-therapeutic diet and able to communicate fluently in English. Most were full-time students, but about half of the interviews were conducted in summer months when some of the students were working at summer jobs and taking few, if any, classes.

Data collection

Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews conducted in a private location on the campus where the student was registered. An interview guide was utilized to ensure that data on issues defined by the investigators at the outset of the study were collected in a systematic fashion, while still allowing for identification and exploration of issues relevant to the research participants (13). All interviews were conducted by the third author (GH), who had been trained in qualitative interviewing techniques. During the interview, participants were asked to describe specific issues such as how often they usually eat breakfast, what a typical breakfast would be, reasons for consuming or missing breakfast and advantages and disadvantages of eating breakfast. Probes were utilized to expand the responses from the questions addressed in the interview (13). Each interview was audiotaped and lasted approximately 45 minutes. Following the interview, participants completed a brief demographic questionnaire. The first three interviews were transcribed immediately and reviewed by the interviewer (GH) and the first author (GC) to ensure that the interview guide included the appropriate questions. Because only minor modifications were made to probe questions, those three interviews were included in the analyses (14).

Data analyses

Verbatim transcripts of each interview were prepared and checked for accuracy. Transcripts were coded according to the topics discussed and the codes were entered into the transcripts using The Ethnograph computer software package (Version 3.0; Qualis Research Associates, Littleton, CO, 1988). Transcript segments were then sorted by codes and a cross-case, inductive analysis approach was used to prepare a written summary of each theme that emerged from the transcripts (15). Procedures to enhance credibility of the findings included triangulating participants' subjective comments with quantitative data provided in their diet recalls, negative case analysis and independent analysis of portions of the data by each of the authors (16,17). Negative cases are reported in the results as minor or contradictory themes. Discrepancies between the independent analyses were resolved through rechecking of transcripts.

RESULTS

Study participants

The 56 subjects (28 male, 28 female) who participated in the qualitative portion of the study had a mean (+/- SD) age of 212 years. Just over half (54%; n=30) reported Canadian, British, or Irish ethnic heritage, 13 (23%) reported other European backgrounds and 13 (23%) were of Asian heritage. Of the 16 (29%) participants who were born outside Canada, six were born in Asia, five in the U.K., two in Europe and one in each of Australia, New Zealand and South America. Just over half (52%; n=29) lived at home with one or two parents, 16 (29%) lived with roommates, five (9%) lived alone and the remaining six (11%) lived with partners, in residence, or in a boarding situation. Thirty participants (54%) reported that they always ate breakfast, while 19 (34%) said they usually ate it and seven (12%) said they rarely did. On the three 24-hour diet recalls provided for the quantitative portion of the study, 32 (57%) ate breakfast on all three days, 15 (28%) ate breakfast on two days, seven (12%) ate one breakfast and two (4%) ate no breakfasts. All of these characteristics are similar to those of the larger sample (1) except that regular breakfast eaters were slightly over-represented and breakfast skippers slightly under-represented in the qualitative sample.

Weekday breakfasts

(I) wake up about 8 o'clock, take a shower, get dressed. Usually I have time and I have a big bowl of cereal or toast and then I go to school.... My dad usually leaves about seven and my mom leaves at 8 o'clock, just when I'm waking up, so usually (breakfast) is just myself.

This man's description of his weekday breakfast routine illustrates the strikingly consistent pattern repeated throughout the interview data. For most study participants, weekday breakfast was a small, quick meal scheduled into the morning routine along with getting out of bed, showering, getting dressed, and for some, preparing lunch or reading the paper. The meal was usually prepared by the participant and consumed alone, unless other members of the household were on the same morning schedule. Breakfasts were typically eaten between 6:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and included all or some of cold cereal with milk, toast, juice and coffee. Yogurt and fresh fruit were other common menu items.

Variations on this routine included several students who saved time by eating breakfast in the car on the way to school and three students (two of whom lived in residences and one who lived in a van on a campus parking lot) who ate breakfast in a cafeteria. The few students who had breakfast prepared by someone else (usually their mother) were more likely to have cooked food and/or to eat with other family members.

Six students said they did not usually eat breakfast during the week and four others mentioned skipping it occasionally. The most common reason for skipping the meal was the desire or need to sleep as long as possible, leaving no time to prepare and eat breakfast before having to leave for work or classes. Other reasons for skipping breakfast mentioned by one or two participants included not wanting to cycle to school with a full stomach, the desire to lose weight, lack of appetite because of depression or smoking and dislike of the foods readily available.

Weekend breakfasts

I probably wouldn't get up till very late most weekends and then ... depending on the time I get up, maybe not even have breakfast. We sometimes go out for brunch or lunch, or just have toast, or I'd have cereal. I don't know. There is not really any schedule on the weekends.

Usually I only eat two meals on the weekend.... I usually get up at about 9:00 a.m. if I'm motivated and then eat around 10:00 a.m. French toast or pancakes or porridge. A little bigger than a typical weekday breakfast. And that does me right until I eat supper.

Weekend breakfasts were more varied than weekday breakfasts, both within and between individual students. Participants with weekend jobs or other routines that required getting up early in the morning maintained their weekday breakfast routine on one or both weekend days. However, most of the students slept later on weekends and were less pressed for time when they did get up. As a result, weekend breakfasts tended to take place later in the morning and were more likely to involve cooking and eating with others than weekday breakfasts.

Large, cooked weekend breakfasts were often called "brunch" because they replaced both breakfast and lunch meals. Such meals were usually consumed only once on a weekend, or maybe one or two times per month. On other weekend days, the breakfast menu might be similar to that of the weekday meal, or breakfast might not be consumed at all. Study participants' definitions of the first meal on a weekend day as breakfast, brunch, or lunch appeared to relate to time of day, menu and timing of the next meal. If "breakfast foods" like waffles, bacon and eggs, or pancakes were consumed at 9:30 a.m., followed by a 1:00 p.m. lunch, the meal was breakfast. If the same foods were consumed at 11:00 a.m. or noon, followed by an evening dinner meal, the meal was called either breakfast or brunch. However, if that noon meal consisted of "lunch foods" like soup or pasta, then the meal was called lunch and breakfast was considered to have been missed.

Several students who lived at home talked about having at least one weekend breakfast as a family meal. Two first generation Canadian participants with Chinese heritage typically went for dim sum on Sunday with their parents and two others mentioned having dim sum occasionally.

Perceived consequences of eating and skipping breakfast

I need breakfast in the morning.... It starts off my day. I don't get as hungry as quick, especially if I have morning classes, or even at work. I am not concentrating on my stomach in class. Iam doing what Iam supposed to be doing.

There was consistent agreement among the study participants (including those who regularly missed the meal) that breakfast should be eaten regularly because it is "the most important meal of the day." They believed that eating breakfast was needed for them to function well in the morning and, to a lesser extent, throughout the day. Several participants commented that breakfast provides fuel to give the body the energy it needs. They used the analogy that breakfast "fills up your tank;" going without breakfast is like "running on empty." Breakfast was seen as especially important because after fasting all night, fuel was in short supply. Two women discussed the importance of breakfast because their activity during the day would "burn off" what they ate, rather than eating a large meal in the evening when their metabolism slowed and they were less active. In these discussions, participants commented that they knew about the importance of breakfast because of what they had read or because of what their mothers, nutritionists, or "people in general" say.

In addition to these more theoretical concepts, many participants compared how they felt when they ate breakfast to how they felt when they missed the meal. Regardless of whether they usually ate or skipped breakfast, most felt more alert and attentive in class on days when they ate breakfast. Breakfast helped them to feel better physically, defeating exhaustion, weakness, mid-morning hunger and light headedness. It also helped them feel better mentally, preventing feelings of crankiness and irritability. In contrast, when they skipped breakfast they felt lethargic and sluggish. Many found it difficult to concentrate during class either because they were so hungry they could only think about eating or because of the embarrassment or distraction of their stomach growling.

In contrast to the majority of participants who were convinced of the benefits of breakfast, four men and one woman expressed doubts about conventional notions about the importance of the meal. All but one of these students usually ate breakfast, but none of them had noticed negative effects on days when they missed it.

Only a few study participants talked about longer term health or nutritional benefits of breakfast consumption and those comments tended to be vague. For example, one woman said breakfast was important because it gave her needed nutrients and three men mentioned they consumed breakfast because it was good for their health.

Influences on breakfast choices

Study participants' descriptions of breakfast consumption habits and their rationales for making particular choices revealed a variety of factors that shaped their breakfast behaviours. These factors included personal food preferences, time availability, health beliefs and concerns, food availability and the physical and social setting.

Food preferences were not discussed extensively as most participants took it for granted that they would not eat foods they did not like. However, when discussing why they chose certain varieties of breakfast cereals over others, they talked about the importance of taste and texture. For example, a few participants indicated that they preferred cereals that were crunchy and did not become "water-logged" and others said they did not eat "bland" tasting cereals. However, the desire for highly preferred foods was moderated by other factors like the time and health concerns discussed below. Some participants described their "ideal" breakfast as consisting of favourite foods such as pancakes, eggs, waffles, bacon and crepes. These students did not regularly consume their ideal breakfast because of time constraints and concerns about eating high fat, high cholesterol foods daily. They typically reserved consumption of their ideal breakfast for occasional weekends.

Other participants talked about a dilemma in choosing breakfast cereals based on the belief that "bland tasting" cereals like corn flakes, bran flakes and muesli are healthier than those that have better flavour, like the sugar coated "kiddy cereals." As one man commented: "If you want the ones that are good for you, they taste bad." A few students added fruit or yogurt to spice up the bland flavour. Others compromised by choosing cereals from an "in-between" category that they added to the dichotomous bland/sweet classification system. Cereals in this middle, "slightly sweet" category included variations of some of the "bland" cereals that were sweetened with the addition of honey-nut flavouring or dried fruit. In contrast to these students who rejected the highly sweetened cereals, three men said they occasionally ate high-sugar cereals as a treat and four other students, three of whom were male, did not appear to differentiate between types of cereals, so included sweetened cereals in the list of cereals they regularly ate.

The importance of time availability was apparent in the differences between weekday breakfasts when little time was usually available and weekend breakfasts when time was less often a concern. During the week, breakfast foods tended to be selected on the basis of minimal preparation time and particularly for students who consumed breakfast in the car while driving to school, ease of consumption. Cereal and toast were mentioned most frequently as quick and easy choices. Additions of fruit, juice, or milk were seen as easy supplements to this standard breakfast. Other breakfast menus were also selected because of time considerations: one student would eat a granola bar, another usually grabbed a rice crispy square. Another student described eggs as a quick and easy breakfast that he could prepare. In contrast to the fast choices, several students mentioned that they had more time available on weekends, so were able to prepare breakfasts including eggs, pancakes, waffles, omelettes and/or bacon.

Several students based their breakfast choices on health beliefs and concerns, selecting foods such as high fibre cereal, whole grain toast, fresh fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese and peanut butter. Those students preferred their breakfasts to be low in fat, cholesterol and/or sugar because of concerns about heart disease or diabetes. One student described breakfasts consisting of bacon and fried eggs as "gross" due to their high fat content which he related to statistics on cholesterol levels and heart attacks. Another student limited the amount of high-sugar foods in his diet because of a high incidence of diabetes in his family. As indicated above, sugar content was frequently mentioned in discussions of breakfast cereal choices. Most students did not like to consume cereals that are high in sugar as it was perceived as unhealthy and bad for their teeth. Therefore, cereals where sugar was listed as the first ingredient were avoided. Some participants read nutrition labels on cereal boxes before purchasing, examining the fat, calorie, iron, fibre and protein content.

Other students mentioned physical effects that influenced their breakfast choices. Three women and one man talked about feeling nauseated in the morning after eating a "heavy" breakfast of cooked food or cereal with milk. These students would have "light" foods like fruit and/or toast for breakfast and possibly have a mid-morning snack of the same foods to get them through the morning. Another woman did not eat toast because she was allergic to several grains.

Students' food choices were also influenced by what was available, which was in turn influenced by their physical, social and economic environment. For those who lived with parents, availability was affected by what their parents ate or agreed to purchase. For those responsible for their own grocery shopping, availability was affected by what they had felt like eating or what they could afford when they had gone grocery shopping. Physical facilities were also important for example: students with no access to cooking, refrigeration or storage facilities typically ate breakfast at a cafeteria.

Despite the varied ethnic backgrounds of the study participants, there was little indication of ethnicity affecting breakfast food choices. This was particularly notable with weekday breakfasts, as only one of the 16 first generation Canadian participants talked of eating traditional foods for breakfast during the week. A Chinese woman who had been born in Vietnam said she occasionally had cereal for breakfast, but when her mother prepared the meal she might have rice, noodles with vegetables, Chinese donuts or congee. As previously mentioned, she and several other students with a Chinese heritage often went out for dim sum on weekends.

DISCUSSION

The findings of this study support classicist Margaret Visser's statement that breakfast is "America's quintessential meal, the one with the strongest identity, and the hardest and fastest rules" (18; p. 52). The "rules" of breakfast familiar to the participants in this study included the reciprocal relationship between the meal and the foods that are associated with it: if one is eating breakfast, one must eat foods like cereal, toast, eggs, bacon and pancakes and if one is eating those foods, one must be eating breakfast (even if it is "lunch time"). Participants' weekday breakfasts encapsulated many aspects of the contemporary North American lifestyle with its hurried, scheduled nature and its emphasis on individuality and informality. The weekend brunch with its relaxed schedule and indulgence in sweet, rich foods like pancakes or waffles with butter and syrup marked the difference between the rush of weekdays and the leisure of weekends. This difference between weekday and weekend breakfasts is consistent with findings of British researchers that state holiday breakfasts are often large, cooked breakfasts, in contrast to small hurried morning meals at home (19). The difference is also consistent with Mary Douglas' (20) classification of meal hierarchies: weekday breakfasts are the least important meals of the week so have the least elaborate structure, while more elaborate weekend breakfasts are used to mark the end of the week.

Participants' shared cultural understandings about breakfast extended beyond the form of the meal to encompass beliefs about its significance and consequences of missing it. Regardless of how often they ate breakfast, most informants agreed that breakfast is "the most important meal of the day" because of its provision of fuel or energy. As with many of the shared beliefs that constitute culture, participants often could not name a specific source for their beliefs, simply explaining them as "that's what people say." Circulation of this knowledge about breakfast through popular culture is also evident in popular media reports about the importance of breakfast in providing the energy needed for the day and increasing performance efficiency and concentration levels (21-24). Participants' other source of knowledge about the effects of breakfast consumption was their embodied experience. Many noted that they had personally experienced negative effects of skipping breakfast, such as being irritable, less able to concentrate and/or weak, which confirmed popular knowledge about the importance of the meal. The few who had not noticed these consequences questioned the validity of what "everyone says" about breakfast, at least for themselves.

In most cases, study participants' beliefs about the benefits of breakfast did not extend to understanding of the specific nutritional benefits of breakfast such as higher nutrient and lower-fat intakes. As well, the beliefs of a few participants that skipping breakfast would help them lose weight contradicted reports in both professional and popular media that those who skip breakfast are more likely to gain weight (2,21,23).

The dearth of apparent ethnic influences on breakfast habits in this study provides further evidence of the strength of the breakfast's identity within Western culture and supports Visser's assertion that the children of people who immigrate to North America quickly adopt American breakfast patterns as a way to demonstrate belonging to their new culture (18). A study of meal formats in an Italian-American community had similar findings to those of our study in that "American" rather than Old World foods were consumed at breakfast and more elaborate breakfasts were prepared on Saturdays than other days (25). Similarly, a study of the food habits and beliefs of Punjabi women living in Scotland showed that Punjabi foods tended to be consumed at the main daily meal but not at breakfast (26).

Surprisingly, there were few gender differences in breakfast consumption patterns and beliefs in this study other than the greater quantities consumed by men. Men and women students reported similar rates of eating and skipping breakfast and similar attitudes about the importance of the meal. However, men were somewhat more likely than women to provide examples of negative cases, such as those who admitted to eating sugary cereals and those who questioned prevailing notions about the importance of consuming breakfast.

In addition to documenting the culture of breakfast in Canada, findings of this study add to an understanding of the factors that influence college students' breakfast habits. Previous studies of factors influencing young people's eating habits have not focused specifically on college students or on breakfast, but have had similar findings to those of the present study in the identification of the importance of food preferences (27, 28). These studies have also identified health concerns as relevant for some segments of the population. Time availability was a third factor identified in the present study; however, most participants were able to overcome time constraints by choosing fast, convenient foods to eat in the morning. The experiences of participants in this study also indicate that family food purchasing patterns, food costs and cooking and food storage facilities can affect what is consumed at breakfast.

Due to the non-random nature of sampling for this study, care must be taken not to generalize the findings to all college and university students. In particular, it should be noted that the students participating in this study had higher breakfast consumption rates than have been reported for people their age in random sample surveys (5-9). As a result, the findings are most useful in providing information about beliefs and situational factors that facilitate breakfast consumption. Future research specifically targeting people who rarely eat breakfast would extend the findings of this study and provide more information about the factors leading to breakfast skipping.

Some of the increased rate of breakfast consumption in our sample may be due to participants' education level, as education beyond high school is associated with increased breakfast consumption (9). The possible role of education is also supported by the fact that 11 of the 14 university students in this study reported that they "always" ate breakfast, compared to only four of the 14 technical college students. It is also possible that the study attracted participants with a particular interest in healthy eating. However, the recruiting procedure attempted to avoid this bias by not including the words health, nutrition, or breakfast in recruitment notices, instead describing the research as a study of "eating habits".

Because the financial incentive was highlighted in the recruitment posters, it is likely that students needing money were particularly drawn to the study. Nineteen participants reported student loans and/or unemployment insurance as a source of income. However, most participants had part-time jobs, summer jobs and/or received financial assistance from their parents, so it is likely that the study included students from a range of financial circumstances.

A final methodological consideration is our use of single in-depth interviews. Although participants appeared to speak freely with the interviewer, it is possible that repeat interviews and/or use of participant observation would have allowed for increased rapport between the researcher and participants, resulting in richer data that might have included more sensitive information such as history of eating disorders.

Implications for nutrition intervention programs

Evaluation research has shown that successful nutrition interventions include consideration of beliefs, motivations and concerns that are relevant to the target group (10). The examination of college students' breakfast behaviours and beliefs in this study suggests that many students do not need to be convinced of the importance of breakfast. The consequences of breakfast consumption they are most familiar with and that are most relevant to their daily lives relate to their ability to work, concentrate and be productive during the morning. Nutrition programs should reinforce these beliefs, as well as strengthen young adults' knowledge about the nutritional advantages of breakfast consumption.

Nutrition intervention programs designed to encourage regular consumption of a healthy breakfast could also help participants identify strategies that could be practiced on a regular basis to add or maintain breakfast as a regular part of their morning routine. Such strategies would need to recognize the relationships between breakfast, rushed morning schedules, and food preferences. Potential approaches include working to broaden the definition of what breakfast is so that people who do not like "breakfast foods" could identify other foods that would constitute a quick, nutritious morning meal that they would enjoy eating. Other people may need to identify foods they could conveniently eat on their way to work or classes, or once they arrive at their destination. Current shared understandings about food choices and meal styles that constitute breakfast serve many people well, providing them with a nutritious, convenient meal that sets them up for the day. However, for the people for whom this pattern does not work, expanding the breakfast possibilities may increase their consumption of this meal.

Acknowledgements

Research funding provided by Kellogg Canada Inc. is gratefully acknowledged.

1 Source of financial support: Kellogg Canada Inc.

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GWEN E. CHAPMAN, PhD, RDN; CHRISTINA L. MELTON, BHEc, School of Family and Nutritional Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; GAIL K. HAMMOND, MSc, RDN, BC Dairy Foundation, Burnaby, BC

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