What has happened over the past 10 years for the French to gradually abandon their sandwiches and hot drinks? Despite the message constantly renewed by health authorities declaring that breakfast is necessary in the energy distribution of the day, for a decade, the systematic intake of this meal has been in free fall.
Indeed, the recent study by Crédoc, the Research Center for the Study and Observation of Living Conditions, shows how since 2003, both on the side of young people and adults, eating breakfast is sharply declining.
The gap is most glaring in the case of children and young adolescents. In 2013, 29% of in-between skipped their first meal, whereas three years earlier they were only 13%. On the other hand, adults have abandoned breakfast more gradually, they are 10% in 2007, then 14% in 2010, to finally represent the share of 21% in 2013.
A meal however necessary
A must to start the day, breakfast meets the body’s energy needs when you wake up. It is observed in individuals who tend to skip the first meal of the day that the food intake absorbed at lunchtime is greater. In addition, while skipping the morning meal becomes a habit, when it is consumed, it is less and less balanced according to Crédoc. To start the day, the PNNS (National Health Nutrition Program) recommends a full breakfast based on a cereal product, a dairy product, a fruit and a drink. We can no longer count the benefits of a hearty breakfast, constantly brought to light by scientific research. It helps prevent cardiovascular illnesses, to fight against weight gain because it reduces the feeling of hunger throughout the day and has many advantages, especially for people with diabetes.
