Breakfast Consumption Amongst School Children in Northern Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Eating breakfast has an important role for growing and educational support in students. The aims of this study were to evaluate whether skipping breakfast had any effect among primary school children in the north of Iran. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive study performed on 7426 students (3786=male and 3640=female) from 112 schools in urban and rural areas. The schools and students were chosen by cluster and stratify sampling. Data were collected by questioner for all samples through interview. Results: Skipping breakfast were significant among 9.3% of students (female= 9.9% and male=6.7%) and in Turkman ethnic group (6.0%) were significantly less (p=0.001) than other ethnic groups such as Fars (9.6%) and Sistani (9.4%). There were statistically significant differences between gender and type of school, separately (p=0.001). The most important reasons for missing breakfast were low appetite (70.1%), non-flavored foods (11.8%), inattention of mothers (5.2%) and others factors (13%). Conclusion: Our findings indicated that one child out of 11 children goes to school without taking breakfast. On the basis of children's statements, lack of appetite, and uninteresting food materials, were among the most important factors for skipping breakfast, respectively. Also, the higher educational level of parents, good economic condition and the father being unemployed were among the most important risk factors for skipping breakfast by school children, in this region.

Predictors of breakfast skipping among 14 to 16 years old adolescents in Jordan: The influential role of mothers

“…Consistent with our study findings, previous research indicates that adolescents skip breakfast for five reasons: (a) lack of appetite in the morning, (b) an aversion to eating breakfast, (c) time constraints/poor time management, (d) the desire to lose weight, and (e) maternal neglect (Godin et al, ; Mullan et al, ; Shaw, ; Veghari & Mansourian, ). In this current study, lack of appetite was a primary reason for skipping breakfast.…”

“…A list of possible reasons for skipping breakfast provided by children was compiled from the findings of previous studies (Godin, Patte, & Leatherdale, ; Mullan et al, ; Shaw, ; Veghari & Mansourian, ) and made available to the participants to assist them in providing reasons for skipping breakfast during school days. The reasons listed had to do with time constraints, the appeal and availability of the food on offer, and the desire to lose weight.…”

The Association Between Maternal Factors and Preadolescent Breakfast Skipping: The Mediating Role of Preadolescent Attitudes Toward Breakfast

“…As in the case with gender, the association between family socioeconomic status and preadolescent attitudes toward breakfast and breakfast skipping was found to be inconsistent across previous studies (Albashtawy, ; Veghari & Mansourian, ; Wijtzes et al., ). The role of gender and socioeconomic status in informing preadolescent attitudes toward breakfast eating and breakfast skipping remains unclear.…”

“…Moreover, parents who permitted breakfast skipping were more likely to have children who exhibited breakfast‐skipping behavior (Van Lippevelde et al., ). In addition, maternal inattention to the breakfast‐eating habits of their children has been cited as one of the reasons schoolchildren skip breakfast (Veghari & Mansourian, ). And when parents place a low value on eating breakfast, there exists a greater likelihood of breakfast‐skipping behavior on the part of children (Cheng, Tse, Yu, & Griffiths, ).…”

“…A small number of studies have found no difference between male and female children in this regard (Albashtawy, ; Ostachowska‐Gasior, Piwowar, Kwiatkowski, Kasperczyk, & Skop‐Lewandowska, ; Stea et al., ), which is consistent with our findings. On the other hand, some studies have highlighted gender differences (Veghari & Mansourian, ; Vereecken et al., ). Although in this study no association was found between gender and preadolescent attitudes toward breakfast, Tapper et al.…”