Integrity Score 4442
No Records Found
No Records Found
No Records Found
Our research suggests eating an unhealthy breakfast could have a similar effect on your child’s school day as having nothing at all
By Andrew J. Martin, UNSW Sydney, Emma Burns, Macquarie University, Joel Pearson, UNSW Sydney, Keiko C.P. Bostwick, UNSW Sydney, Roger Kennett, UNSW Sydney
Many parents know it is important for their teenagers to have breakfast before they go to school. Even though young people can be reluctant to eat it, breakfast provides the energy the brain and body need to function through the day.
In our new research we looked at what impact breakfast has on students’ motivation to learn and their academic achievement at school.
We also looked at whether it matters if they have a healthy breakfast, an unhealthy breakfast or no breakfast at all.
Why did we study breakfast?
As educational psychology researchers we look at ways to improve how students learn.
Unlike factors beyond a student’s control (such as teaching quality) or those that can take time to improve (such as study skills), eating breakfast is something students may have some immediate control over.
It is also something that could be quickly addressed by schools.
Our research
We wanted to know if eating breakfast affects students’ motivation and achievement. We also wanted to know if it mattered whether the breakfast was a healthy one.
So, as part of an Australian Research Council project, we studied 648 Australian high school students from five private schools in New South Wales. Two of these schools were single-sex boys’ schools, two were single-sex girls’ schools and one was co-educational.
Students were in Years 7 to 9, with an average age of 13–14 years.
We conducted our study during students’ science lessons. It was made up of three main components.
First, students completed an online survey of their breakfast habits. We asked if they had eaten breakfast that morning and what types of food they usually eat for breakfast.
Home
