How Many Americans Actually Eat Breakfast Each Morning?

Breakfast, called the most important meal of the day, is responsible for getting folks off to a good start before work or school and giving them the energy to function until lunch. Whether you're grabbing a fast food breakfast sandwich or making yourself some hearty biscuits and gravy, breakfast is something everyone eats, right? Not exactly. The number of Americans starting the day with breakfast is a bit more nebulous than stereotypes and TV ads make it seem.

According to a 2022 survey by Civic Science, 35% of 2,759 respondents over 18 said they ate breakfast daily, with 21% only eating a morning meal 4 to 6 days per week. Similarly, a survey from Kellogg's in 2011 found that only 34% of 14,000 respondents ate breakfast daily. So, the numbers stayed pretty consistent over an 11-year span. Meanwhile, a survey from the CDC tracking breakfast consumption from 2015 to 2018 found that 84% of adults over 20 were eating breakfast on any day of the week, and the number increased with age. Older Americans seem more inclined to eat breakfast regularly than their younger cohorts.

Additionally, breakfast trends have changed over time. A Nationwide Food Consumption Survey that tracked breakfast consumption in adults from 1965 to 1991, found the number of folks eating breakfast declined from the beginning of the survey to the end. However, like the CDC survey, breakfast consumption rose with age overall. That said, the study also found several factors impacted breakfast consumption, including age, location, and race.

Alongside the demonstrated changes in eating habits that seem to correlate with age, there are many other factors that contribute to whether or not someone eats breakfast in the morning. For instance, some folks have hectic work schedules that might make eating before work tricky or impractical. Interestingly, a 2016 article from the University of Mississippi raised the question of whether or not circadian rhythms played a role in breakfast consumption (something more study is needed to determine) and if the drive for folks to eat breakfast could be influenced by media messaging.

Media is indeed an intriguing point to raise, especially if you know the recent origins of why we eat three meals a day. Eating habits used to be quite varied before the Industrial Revolution came along. With the message of breakfast being the most important meal of the day being constantly pushed, it's become an accepted fact in society. However, this doesn't consider personal and geographical factors impacting access or want for early meals.

For instance, for the 2022 to 2023 school year, 14.3 million children were part of a school breakfast program, and 11.3 million were eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Without this program, breakfast might not have been a given. Similarly, Bayer estimates there are over 6,500 food deserts in the U.S. that can limit folks' access to healthy food, while the Census Bureau estimates 36.8 million people were living under the poverty line in 2023. Coupled with food prices that have risen 28% in the past five years, all of this culminates into factors that can limit breakfast consumption for any number of individuals.