International Journal of Healthcare Sciences ISSN 2348-5728 (Online) Vol. 9, Issue 2, pp: (122-128), Month: October 2021 - March 2022, Available at: www.researchpublish.com
Impacts of Skipping Breakfast on Academic Performance among Medical and Nursing Students of Eastern University Sri Lanka Handuwala, L. H. H. I. S1, Fernando, W. S. S2, Jenaniya, J3, Apinaya, J4, Sujendran, S5 1,2,3,4,5
Faculty of Health-Care Sciences, Eastern University Sri Lanka, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka
Abstract: As a significant dietary source for energy, the breakfast is considered as an important meal of the day and skipping of breakfast affects mental, physical activity of people. Worldwide, undergraduate university students have the habits of skipping meals particularly breakfast. Since there were very few literatures available on the impacts of skipping breakfast on academic performance of the students, we endeavor to put forward a study to assess the prevalence of skipping breakfast and its association with academic performance. A Cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among all batches of Nursing and Medical students of Eastern University Sri Lanka. Considering the total number of (488) students the sample size was estimated as 253. An online data collection was carried out using a pilot tested and self-administered questionnaire. According to the finding of this study, the prevalence of breakfast skipping among the students was 36%. Significant differences were seen in various parameters such as memory, concentration, grades obtained and attendance between breakfast skippers and breakfast non-skippers. Breakfast consumption is associated with a range of positive outcomes and skipping breakfast leads to negatively impacts in the academic performance. Keywords: Food habits, Skipping breakfast, Academic performance.
I. INTRODUCTION A. Background Nutrients and energy during the day are necessary, and breakfast is taken as a significant dietary source for energy [1]. Among students, the consumption of breakfast is proportional to many positive outcomes including regular attendance and maintenance of body weight [1].Additionally, all types of positive effects like enthusiasm, interest, energy level, mental alertness, joy and will power increase sharply in the morning to noon period is and more prominent in regular breakfast eaters [2]. Breakfast also enhances the ability to focus and reduces failures in attention and cognition during the day [3]. According to same surveys about 18-25% students and 36% of adolescents skip breakfast [4]. Skipping breakfast incidence is increasingly basic among young adult than older adult. Many undergraduate universities Medical and Nursing students have the habits of skipping meals, particularly breakfast. Skipping breakfast is related to adverse effects on class attendance, academic performance, and emotional status and mood especially in university students Additionally, skipping breakfast may reduce body energy for the duration of the day and it is difficult to compensate for this morning energy by taking nutrients for the rest of day. It is observed that breakfast skipping begin to ingest a diet higher in fats and have reduced intakes of vitamins and minerals in comparison to breakfast consumers, thereby enhancing the chances of getting gastrointestinal disease later of life. Skipping breakfast means a decrease in carbohydrates in morning hours, which results in a low level of blood sugar leading to performance, mental and physical activities of the students. Skipping breakfast is generally associated with great Body Mass Index (BMI) among university students in any age, this is due to that, skipping this meal causes students to be hungrier and eat more during lunch, especially unhealthy foods. In addition to skipping breakfast leads to prompts decline the level of energy during the day. The result of this study may help to design intervention that may support the notion of taking regular breakfast among students.
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