Association of Social, Academic, Emotional Behavior and Cognitive Health with Breakfast Skipping among School-Going Children of 7- 14 Years of Age
Author(s) : Mushavia Ashraf, Ammara Arshad, Naveed Munir, Aiman Afzal, Nimra Shahid, Shahzada Khurram Syed & Wasif Mushtaq
Abstract:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52587/njhms.v6i1.84Objective:
The objective of the study was to analyze the association of breakfast skipping with social, academic, emotional behavior and cognitive health of school-going children of 7-14 years of age in a cross-sectional study.
Material & Methods:
In a descriptive cross-sectional study, data were collected from 200 participants via a structured questionnaire. The breakfast skipping questionnaire consisted of 4 items; never skippers, sometimes skippers, often skippers, and always skippers. Cognitive ability was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) (an 11-item scale). Social, academic, and emotional behavior were measured using The Social, Academic and Emotional Behaviour Risk Screener (SAEBRS) (a 19-item global screening tool).
Results:
There was a statistically significant (0.05) correlation between breakfast skipping (BS) with Social Behaviour (SB; -0.346), Academic Behaviour (AB; -0.571), Emotional Behaviour (EB; -0.776) and with Cognitive Performance (CP; -0.213). SB, AB, EB, and CP of children who skipped breakfast (Always Skippers) had lower mean scores as compared with Never Skippers and Sometimes Skippers and these differences were statistically significant (p=0.000).
Conclusion:
The study concluded that breakfast skipping is negatively associated with social behavior, academic behavior, emotional behavior, and cognitive health of school-going children of 7-14 years of age.
Keywords: breakfast skipping, social behaviour, academic performances, psychological aspects, cognitive aspects