The Patterns of Breakfast Consumption and Their Association with Concentration and Memory of Ordinary Level Students of Christ King College, Pannipitiya

Abstract

Background: The positive effect of consumption of breakfast in academic performance, specially memory and concentration of school children is widely accepted. However, there is a dearth of evidence in objective assessment of memory and concentration. Objectives: To describe the patterns of breakfast consumption and their association with concentration and memory of Ordinary Level students of Christ King College, Pannipitiya. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 102 students in grades 10 and 11 of Christ King College, Pannipitiya. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and four activities which are parts of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Saint Louis University Mental Status Examinations (SLUMS). Frequencies were generated by cross-tabulations to generate descriptive statistics and analyzed with Chi Square distribution test. Results: Out of the 102 students, 37% of students had consumed breakfast only 3 days or less in weekdays. Of them, 28.94% (n=11) had felt sleepy and 28.94% (n=11) had headache when they missed their breakfast. ‘No appetite’ (60.52%) followed by ‘no time’ (36.84%) were mentioned as the common reasons for skipping breakfast. Most of the students (65.69%, n=67) had breakfast at home. The 8.82% of students (n=9) had taken breakfast after 10.00 a.m. Students who consumed breakfast on that day performed better in objective assessment of memory and concentration than those who did not, and this difference was found to be significant (p=0.029). Self-perceived memory scores of those who had their breakfast were better than those who missed their breakfast (p=0.363); self-perceived concentration scores of those who missed their breakfast were better than those who had their breakfast (p=0.423), however, those differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Considerable proportion of students do not consume breakfast regularly. Lack of appetite and lack of time are the possible reasons. Consumption of breakfast is important for memory and concentration of students.