Café da manhã: Caracterização, consumo e importância para a saúde

Abstract

Breakfast is one of the main daily meals but despite its importance for health, skipping breakfast is becoming increasingly common and constitutes an important change from former to current food habits. This study discusses the characterization of this meal, its implication on health, its importance and consumption recommendations. Searching databases in the field for articles and their respective scientific contributions evidences that there are very few studies on this meal. However, the existing studies show that regular breakfast consumption is associated with a lower risk of overweight and obesity and improved learning ability. Individuals who have breakfast regularly are usually physically active nonsmokers who monitor their weight and drink only sporadically. Thus, the reviewed articles suggest that there is a positive association between having breakfast regularly and healthy lifestyle, justifying the recommendation of programs that stimulate its consumption.