Three Meals a Day

Americans aged 50 or older are more likely than younger adults to eat three meals a day, every day. Forty-two percent of people aged 50 or older say they never skip a meal compared with only 27 percent of younger adults who never miss a meal.

Breakfast is the meal most often skipped. Half of adults under age 50 skip breakfast regularly as do 31 percent of those aged 50 or older. The pattern is reversed for lunch, with younger adults less likely than older adults to skip lunch (16 versus 24 percent). Almost no one regularly skips dinner--just 6 percent of adults under age 50 and 4 percent of those aged 50 or older.

Source: AARP, Dietary Habits--An AARP Bulletin Poll