[Current model of breakfast for different age groups: children, a adolescents and adults]

The objective of the present work is to assess the current breakfast model in different age groups: children between the ages of 6 and 12 years (n = 54); adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 years (n = 174); and adults, older than 18 years of age (n = 252). For this a questionnaire has been designed that follows the standards of that used for a similar study by our team in 1984 on a sample of 1350 individuals. The modified and amplified questionnaire included open and closed questions about: the omission of breakfast and its causes, foods that are a part of breakfast, the most frequent types and the variations, the role of the second breakfast, the number of fasting hours since dinner, the time spent of breakfast, and the subjective opinion regarding the importance or not of having breakfast. 98.95% answer yes to the question do you have breakfast, but only 9% eats a nutritionally correct breakfast, one defined as that breakfast that supplies 20% of the total energy and includes foods from at least four different groups. All the children included some form of milk product in their breakfast. The adolescents consumed the lowest proportion of cereals (19.4%) and the highest proportion of pastries (24.2%). The percentage of adults who drink coffee with milk (57%) and sugar (37.7%) is significantly higher than that it the other two groups. Bread (37.7%), pastries (28.3%) and cookies (26.1%) are the solid foods eaten most by the adults. The children spend the longest time on breakfast. 35.9% of the sample varies their breakfast, 43.1% never does, and 21% does so sometimes. The average time elapsed between dinner and breakfast is 10.5 +/- 1.2 hours. It is advisable to have a more nutritionally balanced breakfast, including different foods from at least four groups, and including a greater variety in the menus.