Smart Start: Do You Miss Out in Learning When You Miss Breakfast?

Overview

Objectives/Goals Students are often encouraged by parents and teachers to eat a healthy breakfast before taking tests. This study attempted to determine if eating a good breakfast improves a student's ability to perform scholastically. Methods/Materials 19 sixth grade students were given a test containing grade level appropriate mathematical and reading comprehension components. Students had not eaten breakfast before taking this test. Following the test, students were served a healthy breakfast and allowed a period for digesting their food. Finally, a second test of equivalent difficulty was given to these same students. Results Correlation of test scores showed that there was an 8% average improvement in scores for the tests taken after eating breakfast, versus those of the tests taken when students had not eaten breakfast. Conclusions/Discussion From this study it appears that academic performance is improved following a healthy breakfast. Encouraging students to eat healthily before taking a test can enhance their ability to perform mentally.

Competition history

• CSEF 2005 Behavioral Sciences · Entry J0341

Resources

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