Consuming breakfast may increase nutritional intake for children and boost their performance at school. Mahoney et al. (2005) conducted an experiment to test the effect of breakfast on cognitive performance on primary school children in the USA. The children in the study either consumed an oatmeal or ready-to-eat cereal breakfast or did not and then completed a series of cognitive tests. They found that breakfast consumption increased cognitive performance, especially in the students who consumed the oatmeal. The students who consumed the oatmeal showed boosts in spatial and working memory. This study suggests that breakfast is an important contributing factor towards a child’s success at school. Increases to a child’s working and spatial memory
…show more content…
Murphy et al. (1998) undertook a cross-sectional and longitudinal study to test the effect of a school breakfast program on a student’s psychosocial and academic performance. Their sample consisted of 131 low-socioeconomic status students in the USA. They collected their data before the instigation of the school breakfast program and four months after the program had been running, through school record data, teacher ratings and in-depth interviews with parents and students. Teacher ratings of behaviour were provided for seventy-six students and eighty-five students undertook a psychosocial interview prior to and after the program. They found that higher rates of participation in the school breakfast program were associated with short-term improvement in maths grades, attendance and punctuality. They also recorded a positive impact on students’ depression and anxiety reports. This study suggests that the consumption of breakfast may be beneficial to students’ mental wellbeing and academic performance and provides evidence for the effectiveness of school breakfast programs. As mentioned in the contextual background, students with a low nutrient diet are more likely to be absent from school and have lower grades (Kleinman et al., 2002), so breakfast may provide the nutrients needed for success at school. If children are punctual and attending school more regularly, they are more likely to be up-to-date with their work, aware of what they are learning about and may therefore avoid falling behind. Therefore, students who are more punctual and attend school more regularly may have more chance of success at school. In contrast, teachers may find students who have not consumed breakfast hard to teach and the may have to be taught separately and at a different time if they fall behind. Additionally,
Murphy et al. (1998) undertook a cross-sectional and longitudinal study to test the effect of a school breakfast program on a student’s psychosocial and academic performance. Their sample consisted of 131 low-socioeconomic status students in the USA. They collected their data before the instigation of the school breakfast program and four months after the program had been running, through school record data, teacher ratings and in-depth interviews with parents and students. Teacher ratings of behaviour were provided for seventy-six students and eighty-five students undertook a psychosocial interview prior to and after the program. They found that higher rates of participation in the school breakfast program were associated with short-term improvement in maths grades, attendance and punctuality. They also recorded a positive impact on students’ depression and anxiety reports. This study suggests that the consumption of breakfast may be beneficial to students’ mental wellbeing and academic performance and provides evidence for the effectiveness of school breakfast programs. As mentioned in the contextual background, students with a low nutrient diet are more likely to be absent from school and have lower grades (Kleinman et al., 2002), so breakfast may provide the nutrients needed for success at school. If children are punctual and attending school more regularly, they are more likely to be up-to-date with their work, aware of what they are learning about and may therefore avoid falling behind. Therefore, students who are more punctual and attend school more regularly may have more chance of success at school. In contrast, teachers may find students who have not consumed breakfast hard to teach and the may have to be taught separately and at a different time if they fall behind. Additionally,