Breakfast Quality of Preschool-aged Canadian Children

Publication: Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
25 August 2022

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the breakfast quality of preschool-aged children through a comparison of their energy and nutrient intakes at breakfast to published benchmarks for a balanced breakfast.
Methods: Dietary data were collected for 163 children aged 3–5 years enrolled in the Guelph Family Health Study using one parent-reported online 24-hour recall and analyzed for energy and nutrient intakes. Breakfast quality was assessed by tallying the frequency of participants whose nutrient and energy intakes at their breakfast meal met the recommendations for a balanced breakfast established by the International Breakfast Research Initiative (IRBI).
Results: Almost all participants (98%) consumed breakfast, and most participants (82.5%) met the energy IRBI recommendation. However, the majority of participants did not meet the IRBI recommendations for breakfast intakes of most macronutrients and micronutrients. In particular, fewer than 25% of participants met the IRBI recommendations for breakfast intakes of dietary fibre, niacin, folate, vitamin C, calcium, potassium and zinc.
Conclusions: Almost all preschool-aged children in this study consumed breakfast, but the nutritional quality of their breakfast did not meet recommendations for most nutrients. These results can inform nutrition education and intervention programs for children that aim to improve the nutritional quality of breakfast.

Résumé

Objectif. Évaluer la qualité du déjeuner d’enfants d’âge préscolaire en comparant leurs apports en énergie et en nutriments au déjeuner aux références publiées concernant un déjeuner équilibré.
Méthodes. Des données alimentaires ont été recueillies à propos de 163 enfants âgés de 3 à 5 ans inscrits à l’étude Guelph Family Health Study à l’aide d’un rappel en ligne de 24 heures soumis par les parents puis ont été analysées pour connaître l’apport en énergie et en nutriments. La qualité du déjeuner a été évaluée en comptabilisant la fréquence où les participants avaient un apport en nutriments et en énergie au déjeuner conforme aux recommandations pour un déjeuner équilibré établies par l’International Breakfast Research Initiative (IRBI).
Résultats. Presque tous les participants (98 %) déjeunaient et la plupart d’entre eux (82,5 %) respectaient la recommandation énergétique de l’IRBI. Toutefois, la majorité des participants ne respectaient pas les recommandations de l’IRBI concernant les apports au déjeuner en la plupart des macronutriments et micronutriments. En particulier, moins de 25 % des participants respectaient les recommandations de l’IRBI concernant les apports au déjeuner en fibres alimentaires, en niacine, en acide folique, en vitamine C, en calcium, en potassium et en zinc.
Conclusions. La quasi-totalité des enfants d’âge préscolaire ayant participé à cette étude déjeunaient, mais la qualité nutritionnelle de leur déjeuner n’était pas conforme aux recommandations pour la plupart des nutriments. Ces résultats peuvent orienter les programmes d’éducation et d’intervention en matière de nutrition destinés aux enfants et visant à améliorer la qualité nutritionnelle du déjeuner.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

REFERENCES

1
Rampersaud GC, Pereira MA, Girard BL, Adams J, and Metzl JD. Breakfast habits, nutritional status, body weight, and academic performance in children and adolescents. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005 May;105(5):743–60.
2
Szajewska H & Ruszcynski M. Systematic review demonstrating that breakfast consumption influences body weight outcomes in children and adolescents in Europe. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2010 Jan;50(2):113–19.
3
Monzani A, Ricotti R, Caputo M, Solito A, Archero F, Bellone S, and Prodam F. A systematic review of the association of skipping breakfast with weight and cardiometabolic risk factors in children and adolescents. What should we better investigate in the future? Nutrients. 2019 Feb;11(2):387–410.
4
Adolphus K, Lawton CL, Champ CL, and Dye L. The effects of breakfast and breakfast composition on cognition in children and adolescents: a systematic review. Adv Nutr. 2016 May;7(3):590–612.
5
Gibney M, Barr SI, Bellisle F, Drewnowski A, Fagt S, Hopkins S, et al. Towards an evidence-based recommendation for a balanced breakfast—a proposal from the International Breakfast Research Initiative. Nutrients. 2018 Oct;10(10):1540–56.
6
Wallace A, Kirkpatrick SI, Darlington G, and Haines J. Accuracy of parental reporting of preschoolers’ dietary intake using an online self-administered 24-h recall. Nutrients. 2018 Jul;10(8):987–97.
7
Aranceta J, Serra-Majem L, Ribas L, and Pérez-Rodrigo C. Breakfast consumption in Spanish children and young people. Public Health Nutr. 2001 Apr;4(6a):1439–44.
8
Monteagudo C, Palacin-Arce A, del Mar Bibiloni M, Pons A, Tur JA, Olea-Serrano F, et al. Proposal for a Breakfast Quality Index (BQI) for children and adolescents. Public Health Nutr. 2012 Jan;16(4): 639–44.
9
O’Sullivan T, Robinson M, Kendall GE, Miller M, Jacoby P, Silburn SR, et al. A good quality breakfast is associated with better mental health in adolescence. Public Health Nutr. 2009 Feb;12(2):249–58.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

cover image Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
Volume 84Number 1March 2023
Pages: 58 - 61
Editor: Naomi Cahill

History

Received: 16 June 2021
Accepted: 1 June 2022
Version of record online: 25 August 2022

Key Words

  1. ASA-24
  2. breakfast quality
  3. dietary assessment
  4. Guelph Family Health Study
  5. international breakfast research initiative
  6. preschool-aged children

Mots-clés

  1. ASA24
  2. qualité du déjeuner
  3. évaluation de l’alimentation
  4. Guelph Family Health Study
  5. International Breakfast Research Initiative
  6. enfants d’âge préscolaire

Authors

Affiliations

Erin K. Smith BSc
Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
Rebecca Lewis MSc, RD
Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
Andrea C. Buchholz PhD, RD
Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
Jess Haines PhD, RD
Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
David W. L. Ma PhD
Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
Alison M. Duncan PhD, RD
Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
the Guelph Family Health Study

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Other Metrics

Citations

Cite As

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

There are no citations for this item

View Options

Login options

Check if you access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Subscribe

Click on the button below to subscribe to Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research

Purchase options

Purchase this article to get full access to it.

Restore your content access

Enter your email address to restore your content access:

Note: This functionality works only for purchases done as a guest. If you already have an account, log in to access the content to which you are entitled.

View options

PDF

View PDF

Full Text

View Full Text

Media

Media

Other

Tables

Share Options

Share

Share the article link

Share on social media