Breakfast Eating Habits Among Schoolchildren

A healthy breakfast provides school-age children with the essential nutrients needed for their activities and is correlated with improving a person's general nutritional status.

A cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of two months in 2015, involving 1798 Jordanian schoolchildren from grade 1 to grade 6. The study data sheet covered the breakfast habits of those children. Descriptive measures and Pearson's chi-square test were computed. Multivariate regression was calculated to assess the predictors' factors for breakfast consumption. The p value was considered significant at p<0.05.

Findings show a prevalence for breakfast consumption of 80.4%. Furthermore, 52.1% of the breakfast eaters indicated that it was a family habit; half of them ate breakfast in order to be active and energetic and to alleviate hunger during the morning. Live with both parents, age groups of 6-9years and boys were the predictors of breakfast consumption among schoolchildren.

Breakfast skipping among schoolchildren was initially high and increased with age. The findings suggest a community health education programme, conducted by school nurses, nutritionists and other health professionals, is needed.