Beneficial Breakfast Habits for Students

Since the middle of the 15th century, the Old English word ‘breakfast’ has been used to describe the break of the fast that the morning meal provides.

It’s no secret that teenagers, Lind-Ritzville High School students included, have a tendency to avoid breaking the fast and skipping breakfast altogether. The benefits of eating a good breakfast, however, offer substantial evidence as to why everyone, especially students, should break their fast. Studies support that the quality of the breakfast is more significant than the quantity. With state testing approaching in the next month, students and parents alike should take an interest in fueling their minds for success.

Breakfast is often referred to as the most important meal of the day. An article from healthychildren.org reports that “By the time kids enter adolescence, as many as 20—30 percent of them have completely given up their morning meal.”

Responses from local students agreed: just over 31 percent of LRHS students say they eat breakfast less than half of school days. Twenty-five percent of surveyors report eating breakfast most of the time, but not every morning. Common explanations as to why they skip breakfast included that they don’t have time (due to over-sleeping) or they simply aren’t hungry when they wake up in the morning.

The 44 percent of LRHS students who eat breakfast every morning have a potential advantage over their hungrier counterparts.

According to a study under Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, “Students who ate breakfast attended an average of 1.5 more days of school than their meal skipping peers, and their math scores averaged 17.5 percent higher… These students with increased attendance were 20 percent more likely to continue on and graduate high school. High school graduates earn on average $10,090 more annually [than] their non-diploma holding counterparts, and are significantly less likely to experience hunger in adulthood.”

Terrill Bravender, a pediatrics professor at Duke University, also stresses the correlation between a proper breakfast and student success.

In an article on http://npr.org, he said, “Without glucose our brain simply doesn’t operate as well. People have difficulty understanding new information, [they have a] problem with visual and spatial understanding, and they don’t remember things as well.”

Especially with state testing in the next few weeks, sustained energy for students is a priority. Experts explain that the quality of the breakfast is a factor in their success.

Bravender added, “Even though a bowl of sugary cereal and a bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal may have the same number of carbohydrates, they have very different glycemic loads.”

The higher glycemic load in sugary cereal means that it is absorbed quickly into the blood, causing a peak and a crash of energy. Oatmeal is absorbed more slowly to provide sustained energy.

Barbara Schmidt, MS, RD and a lifestyle specialist said in an http://everydayhealth.com article, “A nutritious breakfast is a meal that has protein and carbohydrates and it can also have a little bit of fat… Protein makes you alert and it stays with you. You don’t get the sugar-low crash you do after having coffee and a pastry.”

Eating a good quality breakfast has many benefits that will help students achieve their potential on their state tests this spring.