It is surprising that eating three meals a day --- breakfast ,lunch and dinner -- has been a custom only since 1890 . Before this time , they only had two meals a day -- breakfast and dinner. In the 16th century , breakfast was only to break one's fast (随便吃一点). But 200 years later it had became a large meal , not just for family , but for numbers guests as well . It was a social (社会的)event . It began at 10 a. m. and lasted until 1 p.m. Then breakfast began to be less popular . It became , instead , a lighter meal and was taken at a much earlier hour . by 1850 it had been pushed back to 8 a. m. and became a family meal . Dinner , however , went to the other way . In the 16th century it was eaten at 11 a. m. Years later , it had moved to the early afternoon , then to 5 p . m. By 1850 dinner time had reached 7 p. m. Lunch is a recent idea . It first appeared as a snack(小吃)to fill the gap(间隙)between breakfast and dinner .