Essay Sample on Breakfast and Academic Performance

Breakfast is considered one of the principal meals of the day in many cultures. Children who take breakfast are likely to have more favorable nutrient intakes in their lifetime, and these include the consumption of fiber, lower total fat and cholesterol, and total carbohydrates. Breakfast is regarded as the type of meal that contributes a lot to the daily macronutrient intake of people. Most studies suggest that most students who take breakfast in the morning tend to develop more energy and even perform better in school work and be able to make healthier eating decisions throughout their day (Corder, Van Sluijs, Steele, Stephen, Dunn, Bamber & Ekelund, 2011). Having a well-balanced diet breakfast is linked with better academic performance because the food affects memory, which contributes a lot to the creativity of the student while in the classroom. This paper will examine the importance of having a balanced breakfast on a student’s academic performance.

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According to Kristen Dalli, breakfast is linked extensively with better student performances at school or in the classroom (Dalli, 2020). For instance, the eating of a well-balanced breakfast controls the appetite, which helps in keeping the student's concentration alert throughout the school day. About 300 students were surveyed in United Kingdom institutions to find out the effect of skipping breakfast on the children’s performance in school. The results indicated that about 30% of the students who skipped their morning breakfasts regularly had significant failures in their test scores (Dalli, 2020). Besides, the students who missed their breakfast scored periodically more than ten points lower than those who never missed breakfast before starting their school day. The findings also indicate that parents or guardians have a lot of responsibilities when it comes to instilling the breakfast consumption behavior among the children since this plays a significant role when it comes to their academic performance.

According to Dalli, 2020, the short-term importance of taking breakfast early in the morning is that it increases motivation and alertness of learning throughout the day. Most of the students are teenagers, which indicate that their metabolic turnover is high, and their rapid growth needs a lot of glycogen to support the processes. Moreover, the body will need fuel that aids in the oxidation of glucose, and this can only be obtained through the eating of the nutritious breakfast in the morning before they start school activities (Brindal, Baird, Danthiir, Wilson, Bowen, Slater & Noakes, 2012). However, whenever the blood glucose levels are low, some of the hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin are produced, which can cause irritability and agitation feelings that later affect the student's concentration in class or any activity being done. Therefore, the students who miss their breakfast in the morning tend to have difficulties at school when trying to get enough energy to keep their biological process alive.

Also, children who take breakfast in the morning tend to have long term effects on the student’s academic performance and higher enjoyment in every school activity they participate in. According to Corder et al., 2011, the students who usually skip their breakfast meals are more likely to develop disruptive traits in class, which makes some of them absent from school. Through the regular taking of breakfast, the students can link the feelings of well-being and feel less hungry so that they can have high concentration while in the classroom (Cooper, Bandelow, Nute, Morris & Nevill, 2012). Also, the continuous consumption of breakfast contributes a lot to children's health. When the student's health is well, the brain tends to perform effectively, and any skipping of this critical meal can affect or bring adverse health impacts on their brain development. For instance, most of the children who consume fortified breakfast cereals and milk tend to have their bran development process healthy because the above nutrients contribute a lot towards the brain functioning of any child.

However, the skipping of breakfast tends to be the teenagers' habit in most of the western countries. For instance, a study done of about 10000 individuals found out that around 31% of adolescents and 20% of children did not take their breakfast in the morning (Corder et al., 2011). Most of the student's reason for not taking their breakfast was due to lack of time management or lack of appetite (Benton & Jarvis, 2007). Still, most of the cases were linked to the unfortunate parental role; for instance, children tend to take breakfast when they see their parents or guardians eating breakfast (Frantzen, Treviño, Echon, Garcia-Dominic & DiMarco, 2013). Also, some of the students who smoke or take alcohol are less likely to consume their breakfast, which later creates adverse impacts on their children’s academic performance.

In conclusion, is that child who consumes breakfast regularly tend to have or obtain amazing and excellent academic performance in school. Parents and learning institutions should increase or have more breakfast programs to cater to the needs of those students who usually miss or lack breakfast at their home. Parents, on the other hand, should encourage their children to consume breakfast regularly so that they produce excellent results in any activities they undertake at school. Therefore, schools and families should adopt every program possible to make sure that every student takes breakfast before attending class for learning.

References

Benton, D., & Jarvis, M. (2007). The role of breakfast and a mid-morning snack on the ability of children to concentrate at school. Physiology & Behavior, 90(2-3), 382-385.

Brindal, E., Baird, D., Danthiir, V., Wilson, C., Bowen, J., Slater, A., & Noakes, M. (2012). Ingesting breakfast meals of the different glycaemic load does not alter cognition and satiety in children. European journal of clinical nutrition, 66(10), 1166-1171.

Cooper, S. B., Bandelow, S., Nute, M. L., Morris, J. G., & Nevill, M. E. (2012). Breakfast glycaemic index and cognitive function in adolescent school children. British Journal of Nutrition, 107(12), 1823-1832.

Corder, K., Van Sluijs, E. M. F., Steele, R. M., Stephen, A. M., Dunn, V., Bamber, D., ... & Ekelund, U. (2011). Breakfast consumption and physical activity in British adolescents. British Journal of Nutrition, 105(2), 316-321.

Dalli, K. (2020). Kids' school performance can suffer when they skip breakfast. ConsumerAffairs. Retrieved 29 May 2020, from https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/kids-school-performance-can-suffer-when-they-skip-breakfast-112219.html.

Frantzen, L. B., Treviño, R. P., Echon, R. M., Garcia-Dominic, O., & DiMarco, N. (2013). Association between the frequency of ready-to-eat cereal consumption, nutrient intakes, and body mass index in fourth-to sixth-grade low-income minority children. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 113(4), 511-519.