Skipping breakfast among 8-9 year old children is associated with teacher-reported but not objectively measured academic performance two years later.

Autor: Smith KJ; 1Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 23, Hobart, TAS 7000 Australia., Blizzard L; 1Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 23, Hobart, TAS 7000 Australia., McNaughton SA; 2Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia., Gall SL; 1Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 23, Hobart, TAS 7000 Australia., Breslin MC; 1Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 23, Hobart, TAS 7000 Australia., Wake M; 3Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.; 4Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.; 5Department of Paediatrics and The Liggins Institute, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand., Venn AJ; 1Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 23, Hobart, TAS 7000 Australia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: BMC nutrition [BMC Nutr] 2017 Dec 06; Vol. 3, pp. 86. Date of Electronic Publication: 2017 Dec 06 (Print Publication: 2017).
DOI: 10.1186/s40795-017-0205-8
Abstrakt: Background: Skipping breakfast, habitually and when experimentally manipulated, has been linked in the short-term to poorer academic performance in children. Little is known about the longer-term effects. This study examined whether skipping breakfast at aged 8-9 years predicted poorer academic performance and classroom behavior 2 years later.
Methods: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) collected data during 2008 (aged 8-9 years) and 2010 (aged 10-11 years). Breakfast consumption was reported by a parent/caregiver on three occasions within 4 weeks during 2008: by face-to-face interview and two subsequent questionnaires. Children who skipped breakfast on at least one of the 3 days were classified as breakfast skippers. During 2010, the child's teacher assessed their academic performance relative to other children in the same grade (below/far below average; average; above/far above average) and classroom behavior. Objective literacy and numeracy outcomes (reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy, score range 0-1000) were obtained via linkage to Australian standardized national assessment program (NAPLAN) data in Year 5 (aged 10-11 years). Ordinal and linear regression were used, adjusted for sex, age and sociodemographic variables.
Results: At baseline, 243 (10.7%) of the 2280 children skipped breakfast on at least 1 day. Two years later, breakfast skippers were more likely to have poorer teacher-reported reading (RR: 1.18; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.29), mathematics (RR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.20) and overall academic achievement (RR: 1.15; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.25) than non-skippers. In contrast, differences in objective NAPLAN scores were small (<3%), and only one of the five scales (numeracy) was significantly lower among skippers (mean difference - 13.0; 95% CI: -25.6, -0.8). Classroom behavior was similar between skippers and non-skippers.
Conclusion: In this national sample of 8-9 year old Australian children, skipping breakfast occurred at low levels, and showed little association with measured academic performance 2 years later. This contrasted with teacher perceptions of lower academic performance among skippers than non-skippers, most likely reflecting confounding. This underscores the importance of using objective measures of academic performance to avoid inflated effect estimates and, potentially, unnecessary and costly population interventions to increase breakfast consumption.
Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.
(© The Author(s). 2017.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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