School Breakfast Essay

One very developed field of study about child cognition is that of the effects of ingesting or omitting breakfast on learning ability in school (e.g. Dickie & Bender, 1982; Pollitt et al. 1981, 1983; Connors &Blouin, 1983; Simeon & Grantham-McGregor, 1989; Michaud et al. 1991; Chandler et al. 1995; Wyon et al. 1997). For decades, educators have attributed the poor performance of many children in the classroom to inadequate nutrition and, more particularly, to the fact that children leave home without having breakfast and therefore cannot mobilize enough energy in the morning to cope with the demands of school activities. To correct this problem, school breakfast program have been implemented in several countries, in developing as well as in

Studies say that the Filipinos are among the people with worst health habits in Asia, according to a new research from Sun Life Financial Asia covering eight major markets in Asia Pacific (Arceo-Dumlao, 2014).

Breakfasts are usually dictated by work and leisure activities and is usually eaten hurriedly which was used as an opportunity by fast food chains to prepare more portable foods at convenient locations. Not having breakfast may cause difficulties for children of school age in terms of academic performance, emotional reactivity, and physical activities (Adolphus et.al., 2013). Choosing the right food to prepare in the morning is very crucial for mothers considering the calcium, vitamins and other important nutrients their children will need in their body for them to function well in school, along with maintaining such preparations to keep their nutrition levels as well (2008). The parent’s breakfast preparation skills will reflect on the children’s eating behavior and performance in school. (Kanarek et.al.,

On more hectic days, breakfasts are skipped and is substituted by eating brunch and mid-morning snacks.

To cite, the parents (with children ages 7-13) of selected families are interviewed on what, how often, and how important breakfast consumption is in their household. It is therefore, expected that the mothers are aware of what they prepare on the table. However, this is not the case. Most of the time, the mothers are unaware if the breakfast they prepared are healthy meals or not, whereby they must be informed on what should be prepared on their tables to have a healthy meal so that the child may perform better at school and maybe even at life (Adolphus et.al., 2013).

What the parents prioritize the most affects the breakfast preparation for their children. Some may prioritize health over duties while others would simply choose duties over health, leading to unhealthy eating practices and inconsistent eating habits. Children being children, uninformed and incapable of preparing for their own, would just follow through with what their parents would instruct and hand them