Topic > Relationship between breakfast and academic performance

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between breakfast and college academic performance. This study was conducted based on previous research involving only school students, but little research has been done on college students. Fifty-two undergraduate students from the International Islamic University of Malaysia responded to and completed a web-based survey. The survey questionnaires were adapted from Staub (2000). Participants had to rate their academic performance in a particular area such as readiness, participation, attention, mood, note taking and anxiety level before the test. The survey also asked cumulative grade point average to find the correlation between breakfast and student academic performance. The results found that eating breakfast was related to mood and note-taking in class, and students who ate breakfast were more likely to have a good CGPA rate. SPSS were used to analyze the result. The result suggests that breakfast can be considered a healthy lifestyle and can be a platform to help students maintain their learning strategies. Keywords: breakfast, academic performance, academic performance, INTRODUCTION Breakfast has been considered the important meal to start the day. Most parents and educators preferred their children and students to eat breakfast to improve academic performance. Breakfast can be defined as the first meal of the day, consumed before or at the beginning of daily activities, usually no later than 10.00 am (Giovannini et. al. 2008). According to Robinson, (1968), Burton, (1976) Wells, (1981) “The worry is based on the common belief that mental and physical performance is below optimal by mid-morning if one does not eat breakfast… mid-day American Dietetic Association document ......l, 105, 743-760.Staub, L.M. (2000). The correlation between eating breakfast and academic performance. MWSC Clearinghouse. Retrieved from www.webclearinghouse.netWalker, M.P., Ayre, G.A., Cumming, J.L., Wesnes, K.,McKeith, I.G., O'Brien, J.T., et al. (2000). Quantification of fluctuation in dementia with Lewy bodies, Alzheimer's disease, and vascular dementia. Neurology, 54, pp. 1616-1625. Wesnes KA, Pincock C., Scholey A. (2012). Breakfast is associated with improved cognitive function in school-age children. An Internet-based study, Appetite, 59, pp. 646-649. Widenhorn-Muller, K., Hille, K., Klink, J., & Weiland, U. (2008). Influence of breakfast on cognitive performance and mood in high school students aged 13–20 years: Results of a crossover study. Pediatrics, 122, 279-284. doi:10.1542/peds.2007-0944