La prima colazione delle famiglie italiane: uno sguardo dall'interno

The role of breakfast has gained strong momentum in the media system thereby fostering the mantra “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”. The paper presents the results of a qualitative research targeted at gaining real insights concerning the breakfast practices of Italian families. Researches have applied an innovative research tool, namely the mobile video ethnography. The 16 involved Italian families – each with children between six and sixteen years of age, coming from the North and the South of Italy and with different education level – have recorded their breakfasts using a smartphone. Moreover, they answered to three simple questions about what they usually eat, with whom they have breakfast and what feeling they have about it. Results confirm the expected notion of breakfast as a key moment in family life, but also a discrepancy between a verbal virtuous attitude toward healthy, organic, and homemade food and the actual widespread consumption of packaged goods. Eventually, the paper outlines different breakfast models, each representing a distinct emerging social trend.