It’s brekky on run for time-poor parents

PARENTS are teaching their kids bad habits by regularly skipping breakfast in the daily chaos of getting youngsters out the door.

New research shows only half of parents eat breakfast every day, with the rest skipping the first meal of the day at least once a week and 29 per cent having it most days.

A survey of more than 1000 Australian parents of children aged 5-17 found 37 per cent of parents spent less than five minutes each weekday sitting down to eat breakfast and 10 per cent were so busy they ate standing up.

A total of 80 per cent of parents agreed mornings were more chaotic than evenings and 64 per cent admitted that in the morning chaos they sometimes forgot to pack essential items for their kids.

Many distracted parents ate breakfast while packing lunch boxes (32 per cent), scrolling social media (28 per cent), watching TV (45 per cent) or getting dressed (21 per cent), the YouGov Galaxy survey found.

Paediatric dietitian and Child Nutrition founder Miriam Raleigh said it was important for children to see their parents eating breakfast to model good food behaviours.

“I see many children who do not eat breakfast, which causes their parents a lot of stress,” Ms Raleigh said.

“In many of these cases, at least one parent also does not eat breakfast or, as this study has found, they might eat breakfast on the run or while attending to other tasks.”

Not-for-profit group The Parenthood’s executive director Alys Gagnon said busy mornings were a struggle for many parents.

“Parents skipping breakfast is just another example of how mums and dads put the needs of their kids first at the expense of their own,” the mum of two said.

“This isn’t always healthy.”