College and University Students' Breakfast Consumption Patterns: Behaviours, Beliefs, Motivations and Personal and...

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.