Impact of Breakfast Consumption and Sleep Habits on Morning Attention and Concentration Among Health Professional Students

Abstract

Background Breakfast consumption and sleep habits are known to affect cognitive performance, yet their specific impact on health professional students' morning attention is underresearched. Objective The study's objective was to assess the influence of sleeping habits and breakfast eating habits on health professional students' morning attention span. Methodology A cross-sectional study was conducted with 323 undergraduate health professional students from medical colleges in Lahore, Pakistan. Participants completed an online questionnaire that gathered data on demographic characteristics, breakfast consumption patterns, sleep habits, and morning attention levels. Morning attention was measured using a self-reported scale where students rated their ability to concentrate during morning lectures on a five-point Likert scale ranging from "very poor" to "very good." Additional questions assessed the frequency and quality of breakfast consumption, sleep duration, sleep quality (using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), and daytime napping habits. Statistical analyses, including descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis, were conducted using the IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 23 (Released 2015; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States) to explore the relationships between breakfast and sleep habits and their effects on self-reported attention during morning lectures. Results Of the 323 participants, 78 (24.14%) never skipped breakfast, while 71 (22.93%) skipped breakfast regularly. Breakfast skippers exhibited poorer attention, with a coefficient of -0.45 (p = 0.0002). Students consuming a more nutritious breakfast demonstrated improved attention, with a coefficient of 0.32 (p < 0.0001). Regarding sleep, 196 students (60.68%) slept four to six hours; those with longer sleep durations had better attention (coefficient = 0.21, p = 0.020). Conversely, 271 participants (83.90%) reported that frequent daytime napping and poor sleep quality, including frequent nighttime awakenings, had a negative impact on attention, with coefficients of -0.30 (p = 0.007) and -0.28 (p = 0.005), respectively. Additionally, 161 students (49.84%) reported difficulty concentrating during morning lectures. Conclusion Regular consumption of a nutritious breakfast and sufficient sleep are crucial for maintaining optimal morning attention and cognitive performance among health professional students.