2.2.4 Percent of daily calories consumed by meal, children aged 4 to 8 years, Canada excluding the Territories, 2004
Source: CICH graphic created using data adapted from Garriguet, D. Overview of Canadians’ Eating Habits. Statistics Canada, Health Statistics Division. Nutrition: Findings from the Canadian Community Health Survey. 2004.
Children aged 4 to 8 years consume on average, 18% of their daily calories at breakfast.
They consume 26% at lunch and 30% at dinner.
Over one-quarter of the calories come from snacks, 27%.
19% of children aged 4 to 8 years eat at least some food prepared in fast food outlets.
Implications
Snacks, that is, food or drinks consumed between meals, actually account for more calories than breakfast or lunch. Studied further, it seems that 41% of the of the calories in snacks that Canadians eat come from ‘other foods’ such as foods that are fats, oils or sugar; high-fat and/or high-salt snack foods; beverages; and herbs, spices and condiments.1
1Garriguet, D. Overview of Canadians’ Eating Habits. Statistics Canada, Health Statistics Division. Nutrition: Findings from the Canadian Community Health Survey. 2004.