Most Americans have a freewheeling attitude to when it's acceptable for breakfast to be served

Last week McDonald's announced that they were looking into the possibility of extending their breakfast hours, from the current cut-off point of 10:30 in the morning to potentially as late as noon. Taco Bell has also joined in the fast food breakfast fray by revealing that they are introducing a breakfast menu, with the first Taco Bell breakfasts beginning on March 27th. The new menu will offer such luxuries as "The Waffle Taco" - a waffle stacked with scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese topped off with maple syrup.

According to the latest YouGov research, 42% of Americans think the restaurants should serve breakfast all day long, while 29% think that they should at least serve it until noon. Only 20% agree with McDonald's current policy and think that breakfast hours end at 10:30am, while 1% of the country actually thinks that breakfast should end at 9am.

Overall, only a third of Americans (38%) eat breakfast every day, though nearly everyone (95%) does eat breakfast sometimes. Under-65s are roughly as likely as anyone else to each breakfast everyday, but over-65s are big fans of breakfast. 55% of them say that they eat it every day. McDonald's, perhaps recognizing this, offers discounted coffee and other beverages to senior citizens.

Fast food breakfast items are very popular, with 25% of McDonald's overall sales coming from its breakfast food.