But what is described by many as “the most important meal of the day’’ hasn’t always been part of people’s daily routine.
In fact, only of late — the past 100 years or so — the foods and drinks we associate with breakfast have only become standard over time, often as part of a very deliberate effort to get people to change their breakfast habits.
Even coffee didn’t break into the breakfast market until comparatively recent times, only becoming the staple breakfast drink for millions after many people — in long-gone days — had started their day with alcohol.
The reason coffee became so popular at breakfast is the same reason it’s so popular today — caffeine.
No coffee, at least not for the students at St Joseph’s Primary School’s Breakfast Club.
Milo is the drink of choice as 80 per cent of the school’s student population attends breakfast club every Thursday.
The menu is altered at regular intervals for the students, the selection of foods ranging from what has become the traditional to more exotic menu items, such as banana and maple syrup muffins.
While the renovations are being completed at the school Breakfast Club has become a “grab and go’’ scenario.
Usually the club acts as a “get together’’ for the student body, and a spark for those children who don’t eat breakfast to get a head start to their day.
Teachers often notice children getting quite hungry before fruit snack time, which inspired the promotion of the first meal of the day.
Breakfast club co-ordinator Lorraine Bain, who is the school chaplain, is the key figure in preparing the menu.
She has a parental assistant and the school’s Year 6 students operate on a roster system to serve breakfast and clean up.
An 8.30am start to Breakfast Club means there is a little bit of dedication required by three “grade sixers’’ to be on site a little earlier than usual.
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