A healthy, nutritious breakfast should contain high-quality protein, carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables, and should be cooked healthily, but too many Chinese fail to eat this kind of a meal, an expert said at the kickoff for the 2016 China Nutrition Communication Conference and Amway Nutrilite Nutrition China charity campaign, which runs through November and will comprise nutrition education events in cities all over China.

The ceremony, held in Beijing on Oct 25, featured a forum on nutrition education, and was attended by top nutritionists, including Yang Yuexin, the director-general of the Chinese Nutrition Society, and Ding Gangqiang, the director of the National Institute for Nutrition and Health, under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

"A balanced diet means the nutrition of three meals in a day should be balanced, and breakfast is very important to achieve that goal," says Ding.

Skipping breakfast causes damage to health, apart from reducing work performance, he says, adding that studies have showed that if a person does not eat breakfast regularly, he or she will be at a higher risk of obesity, diabetes, high blood lipids, stomach disease and gallstones, etc.

Skipping breakfast also has a negative impact on a person's cognitive ability and speeds up aging, he says.

However, many people do not eat breakfast, says Ding, citing a recent survey, which showed that 8.6 percent of people do not eat breakfast every day. The situation is even worse in poverty-stricken areas and among children aged between 6 and 12.

While most people are used to eating breakfast, the quality of their meal is in question - about 25 percent of people do not eat a homemade breakfast, and more than 80 percent of people do not consume a healthy breakfast - the survey showed.

Children, women, and people living in poverty-stricken areas are the most at risk when it comes to eating unhealthy breakfasts, says Ding.

Among children aged between 6 and 12, 82.2 percent do not eat healthy breakfasts, and among children aged between 13 and 17, the percentage is 80.7.

Among adults, 80.9 percent of those aged between 18 and 44 do not eat healthy breakfasts, and for those aged between 45 and 59, the percentage is 81.4.

As for those who eat healthy breakfasts, those older than 60 topped the charts with 80.1 per cent, making them the largest population group which was able to eat healthy in the morning.

Ding credits this to the fact that older people, who are mostly retired, have time and patience to cook breakfast themselves.