Exploring the linkage between breakfast intake and students academic performance, evidence from some second cycle schools within the Ashanti region

Abstract

Although, healthy dietary practices have been identified as very important predictor of children and adolescent’s development however, what continues to remain a puzzle in this discussion is how the continuous consumption of healthy breakfast contributes to student academic performance. This study investigated how breakfast intake influence student’s academic performance at the secondary school level. Specifically, the main objectives of the study were; to examine breakfast consumption habits of Ghanaian second cycle school students, to investigate the specific factors that lead to student’s breakfast skipping behaviours, to explore how the consumption of breakfast affect students’ academic performance and lastly to compare student’s academic achievement between breakfast skippers and breakfast takers. The study population came from all the second cycle schools within the Ashanti Region hence, 50 of these schools within the region were targeted. The study employed a cross-sectional design hence, distributed questionnaire to collect specific information on the students’ breakfast consumption patterns. Again, the academic scores of the respondents on all the core subjects; core mathematics, English language, social studies and integrated science were used as the proxy to assess the sample academic performance. The study employed SPSS tool to analyse the study data on the basis of descriptive (i.e. frequency and percentages) and inferential analysis (probit regression analysis). Results from the study revealed that taking breakfast did not only improve the participants exams score in all the core subjects; core mathematics, English language, social studies and integrated science but it equally reduce the failing rate of breakfast takers. Again, it was established that most of the respondents skipped their breakfast mainly because they dislike most of the meals served to them as breakfast. Since, taking breakfast on a regular basis has been found to have a positive influence on University of Education, Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh xiii students’ academic performance, it equally becomes prudent to have a variety in the meals served to the students or if possible take feedback from the students with regards to the meals they will prefer to be served to them as their breakfast since this approach can in any way increase the students intake of breakfast.