New research from Nestlé in Spain has found that more than 50% of parents overestimate the healthiness of their child’s breakfast, leading many young people to miss out on key recommendations for a strong start to the day.
The cereal maker found widespread consumption of dairy and cereals at breakfast-time, but said there were still issues around incorporating fibre into people’s diets.
Despite 80% of parents believing that their child receives a proper breakfast, Nestlé found that the real figure was only about 35%. That could have damaging consequences, as better breakfasts have been linked to improved concentration and cognitive function in children.
For a good breakfast, consumers are advised to combine dairy with fruit and cereals – preferably whole grains – and achieve around a quarter of their overall energy intake for the day. For a moderately active male, that’s roughly the equivalent of one bowl of whole grain cereal, plus yogurt topped with berries and granola – and for women will be slightly less.
But Nestlé discovered that consumers are generally not eating enough fibre, with less than half eating fruit at breakfast and only two in ten people consuming whole grains.
It also found that children were increasingly rushing breakfast, with 58% consuming their first meal of the day in under ten minutes.
Laura Gonzalez, head of nutrition for Nestlé España, said: “Breakfast is an ideal time to incorporate bread or whole grains and a piece of fruit. It is advisable, in both children and adults, to increase the amount of fibre in the diet for its numerous health benefits. Among others, its consumption is related to a lower prevalence of obesity. Therefore, it is important to include it in the diets of little ones from the first years of their life.”
The findings are in spite of Spain’s above-average calorie consumption, which has deepened an obesity problem that has led to more than 60% of Spain’s population being classified as ‘overweight’ and more than 25% as ‘obese’. In fact, the country has one of the highest rates of obesity in continental Western Europe.
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