Breakfast habits, nutritional status and their relationship with academic performance in elementary school students of Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background. The aim of this study was to examine the breakfast habits, nutritional status and their relationship with academic performance in primary school students in Tehran, Iran.

Method. In this cross-sectional study 829 primary school children were included. Child Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated based on the objective measures of height and weight as well as adjusted for age and gender. Data on Breakfast habits and academic performance were collected by a valid checklist. For data analysis we used Chi-squared and Fisher's exact test using SPSS software, version 11.5; statistical significance was assumed if p-value is below the 0.05

Results. The average breakfast consumption per week was 5.5 times (days) with a standard deviation of 2.9. Based on the results, 30.9 % of participants did not consume full breakfast (six times or less) and 69.1 % had a complete one. In terms of academic grade level, 88.4 % of the participants were in a high level, 10.3 % in appropriate conditions and only 1.3 % of the respondents required more effort (inappropriate).There was no significant correlation between breakfast consumption and academic status (p=0.73), nutritional status of the participants according to the academic performance status Individuals showed no statistically significant relationship (P=0.9).

Conclusion. Unlike previous studies, this study revealed no correlation between the academic grade level of elementary students with nutritional status and breakfast habits. It is suggested that according to the qualitative school scoring method, future studies are needed to assessing the students' academic performance. Other parameters will be considered in addition to the average in order to provide a better perspective of students' academic performance.