We have all heard that we should eat breakfast before we go to school at least once during our academic career, but no one has ever told us the significance of it. Research has shown that a healthy breakfast (emphasis on healthy) helps to improve academic improvement in both children and adolescents. “According to the Healthy Children website, about 8 to 12 percent of school-age children skip breakfast entirely, and among adolescents, this rate is even higher, reaching to up to 30 percent”(Live). Many different studies have been done since 1950-2013 to prove this hypothesis. The studies were done on different types of children/adolescents and their situations, such as different populations (included areas with well-nourished and undernourished children) and different socioeconomic statuses. The study showed mostly positive effects, especially in those who are undernourished (NCBI). So according to this, many children or adolescents would grab a bowl of their favorite sugary cereal once or twice a week and expect to do better in school. It is important to eat a quality breakfast that will provide enough energy until lunch time. It is also important to continue these habits everyday, not just whenever it is convenient.
Eating breakfast has shown to specifically help with performance in mental performance in mathematics (NCBI). Children and adolescents were shown to be able to handle more complex problems and even participate more in class discussions (Live). Eating breakfast before school does not just improve academic performance in children and adolescents but it helps them to maintain body weight and receive more vitamins than those who do not eat breakfast. “Two systematic reviews report that children and adolescents who habitually consume breakfast have reduced likelihood of being overweight” (NCBI). There seem to be many positive effects for children and adolescents who eat a quality and frequent breakfast before school.
Although there are these studies that show positive effects, it is complicated for researchers to study behavior in classrooms and measure it. There is not a standardized way to measure behavior in the classrooms. “Similarly, few examine the effects of breakfast on tangible academic such as school grades or standardized achievement test relative to cognitive outcomes” (NCBI). Researchers need to find a specific way that would produce the best measures of classroom behavior. One way they could do it, is to put all of the children or adolescents who have had a quality breakfast in one room and record their behavior and then do the same with children or adolescents who did not eat any breakfast. Although behavior is hard to measure, direct measure of academic performance may have more of an impact (NBCI). So after all of this data, it looks that it can be shown that eating breakfast does help academic performance.
Works Cited
Adolphus, Katie, Claire L. Lawton, and Louise Dye. “The Effects of Breakfast on Behavior and Academic Performance in Children and Adolescents.” NCBI. PMC, 8 Aug. 2013. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3737458/>.
Coila, Bridget. “Does Eating Breakfast Help Your Performance in School?” Live. Demand Media, Inc, 22 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/289854-does-eating-breakfast-help-your-performance-in-school/>.
Pictures from Google Images.
I have never been a morning person and don’t typically eat breakfast. I love breakfast food however but that is really not related to this subject. I have often heard that eating breakfast is very good for you and enhances your academic performance in many cases. Before my SATS my mom would make me breakfast and would force me to eat a little bit of it because of these studies performed. I don’t know if it affected me positively or not but here is a link to the many benefits of breakfast http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/many-benefits-breakfast
I always find myself never having time to grab something to eat in the morning which in the long run negatively affects me. I have always wondered however if that was true. I definitely agree with this topic in the sense that eating a well balanced breakfast can positively enhance your academic performance. I agree that if you feed your stomach, your feeding your brain because they are both directly connected. Also, if your in class on an empty stomach, your more likely to be thinking of food and dozing off instead of becoming engaged in the lesson. I’m so interested in this topic that I think it would be interesting to try this experiment on myself and see my academic performance when I eat breakfast and when I don’t. Eating a well balanced breakfast comes with an endless amount of benefits which are including in this link. Good job!
I think that eating breakfast helps people focus on the tasks they are trying to finish. They are more likely to have energy to push them throughout the day so that they perform better. Academic performance, I believe, is probably enhanced when a student is able to focus better on the task or issue because they aren’t focusing on what they are going to eat for lunch that day. It is important that the breakfast students are eating aren’t sugary or artificially flavored. I have found that piece of fruit, a yogurt, or even a protein bar can do the trick of keeping my stomach full and keeping me attentive in class. This site poses interesting studies to look further into research about this topic: http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologyexperiments/a/breakfast-exper.htm
I truly believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Like Emily, every morning before school at home I would wake up early and make myself a well balanced breakfast. Here, I find myself not waking up early before class to walk to the dining hall, maybe because my kitchen is in the convenience of my own home, I do not know. When I do not eat breakfast before class, I find myself dozing off, not engaging in conversation and instead concentrating on my growling, empty stomach. The glucose (sugar) in the food we eat gives us energy, eating in the morning will give you that boost of energy to help get you to your next meal. Eating breakfast will probably help me focus more in class because I will have more energy and won’t be thinking about being hungry. According to Nancy Gottesman, skipping breakfast can lead to bad cholesterol levels and you are more likely to consume more calories throughout your day due to a slower metabolism.
This topic of eating breakfast every morning always catches my eye! Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and if I don’t put something into my body before class, I won’t be able to function. There is so much evidence out there that eating breakfast is extremely important to do. I still don’t get why people don’t do it! You may not be hungry in the morning, but if you have a test in a certain class, eating something before you leave will help your academic performance on that test. It is hard in college though because we just like to wake up, get dressed, and leave! I miss having good breakfast meals at home. The link below talks about some tips for college students, hope it helps!
http://www.clarke.edu/page.aspx?id=6510
Back home, every morning before high school I would always try to have a bowl of cereal with some kind of fruit. Now, with my classes starting at 8 or 9 in the morning, I’m lucky if I remember to grab a granola bar on my way out the door. I haven’t been to the dining commons once for breakfast on week days and I kind of miss the routine of sitting down and having a real meal before classes. Interesting blog!