The Breakfast Toolkit: the nutritional toolkit for designing balanced breakfasts based on the recommendations of the Breakfast Research Initiative

Introduction: the aim of the study was to translate the nutritional recommendations proposed by the International Breakfast Research Initiative (IBRI) into a useful tool that meets the needs of nutrition and dietetics professionals. Methods: through research conducted via a focus group, we established the bases for designing a 19-item questionnaire, which was distributed among members of the European Federation of Associations of Dietitians (EFAD). The questionnaire was focused on understanding the breakfast habits of Europeans and the needs of professionals for educating on healthy habits. A total of 336 dietitians from 27 countries participated in the survey. Results: the two most common elements in breakfasts across all European countries are bread and coffee, in various forms. Southern European countries prefer sweet breakfasts, while savoury ones are more common in the north. The main obstacles to having a healthy breakfast were lack of time and not feeling hungry in the morning. Increasing fresh fruits and vegetables, reducing sugary foods, and choosing whole grains were identified as the most urgent interventions according to the dietitians' experience. Conclusions: based on these results, educational material for dietitians and the general public was designed, along with a recipe book containing 20 healthy and sustainable options, all evaluated according to the recommendations agreed upon by IBRI, and an app for evaluation of breakfast quality was reviewed. The material is available at https://www.efad.org/breakfast-toolkit/.