The Most (least) Important Meal of the Day

Figure 1

I hate mornings.  I know a lot of people in this world say that, but my hatred rings truer than an oven timer going off hours after your Mom told you her famous cookies were almost ready.  While most of my detestation comes from not getting as much sleep as I want (at least 10 hours), another main reason mornings aren’t my favorite time is because breakfast food is simply sub-par compared to that of lunch or dinner.  For me, breakfast food just isn’t that memorable; I know my mornings of high school have completely blurred together.  It was always the same question: “Do you want toast, cereal, oatmeal…Cream of Wheat?” They’re all the same: bland.  I know that there are other breakfast food choices out there, but if breakfast is really the most important meal of the day, why do other meals take the cake?

            When you think about going out on a nice date, you think about going to a nice restaurant with good service, maybe with romantic lighting, candles, having a nice glass of wine, looking into your loved one’s eyes, you name it.  Now, this nice date is happening over dinner, right?  Meals have come to take on certain standards because of the social situations that are associated with that meal.  You’re more likely to whisper sweet nothings into someone’s ear over filet mignon and asparagus than over cold cereal (or maybe an omelet if you’re getting fancy) when you’re hardly awake, right?  Breakfast in the United States has turned into a time where eating a bar (whether Power or cereal) is socially acceptable because of the fast pace most Americans move at today.

            This fast paced mentality, which mainly can be attributed to a society where corporate interests have a higher value than those of individuals, has actually come to affect the way we nourish our bodies.  Research on breakfast in America conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture shows that breakfast only accounts for “16% of the day’s total energy intake,” with the most common items being coffee, milk, and cold cereal (Kiczynski, Cleveland, Goldman, & Moshfegh).  So, according to the USDA, you gain just about nothing from breakfast compared to lunch or dinner.  I would like to think that Americans don’t take their time with breakfast because it isn’t normally an incredibly social meal, but maybe it isn’t a social meal because we’ve told ourselves we have better things to do.  I can’t ever think of a time where I had a long, elaborate breakfast during a workweek.  With earning money as the top priority in the United States today, you’ve got to get out of your bunny slippers, get your briefcase and head out the door.  Power bar?

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Figure 1 does not accurately represent the nutrition facts of a bowl of cereal but is a symbolic representation of breakfast accounting for 16% of average energy intake (according to the USDA).