‘THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BREAKFAST AND

PERFORMANCE AMONG STUDENTS OF UITM SHAH ALAM’

Prepared by:

Group

1. Nurul Syahida binti Hassan (2010456998)

2. Noor Amalina binti Masduki ( 2010263152 )

3. Nur Amira binti Mohamed Murad (2010461104 )

4. Sharezza binti Kamaruddin ( 2010470662 )

Prepared for:

Mr Teoh Chee Yong

English Lecturer for BEL422/420

Academy of Language Studies

UiTM, Shah Alam

Submission Date:

9th June 2012

SUMMARY

Breakfast is said as the most important meal of the day. However, many people

especially students refuse to eat breakfast before they going to class due to some reasons such

as lack of time, not feeling hungry, food not available and many other reasons. Many

nutritionists believe that breakfast can help in enhancing the effectiveness of thinking skills,

memory and performance to students. Therefore, this study is conducted to determine any

positive correlation between eating breakfast and performance to the students of UiTM Shah

Alam. Forty undergraduate students from UiTM Shah Alam participated in this study. These

students were asked to fill up the survey questionnaires to investigate on students’

performance where they have to rate their performance in areas such as alertness, attention,

mood, test, participation etc. The survey also asked whether they eat breakfast or not as well

as they were given memory test where they had to recall 25 wordlists that have been given to

them to read. The result indicated that breakfast does seem to have some effect on their

performance but not as much as hypothesized. The results from this memory test research

also shows that eat breakfast seems to improve student’s memory but it does not appear to

have any real influence on other components of their performance in studies.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We were grateful to Almighty Allah for giving us enough energy to carry on our

project to complete the partial of requirement for this course that is to write a report. We also

give this honoured to our instructor, Mr. Teoh Chee Yong for giving us chance to do this

research and advised us on how to conduct our project. Your cooperation and care will be

bear in our mind for good. Thank you also to our beloved friends and family that give us

supports to carry out this project.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Summary iAcknowledgements iiList of Illustrations iii

1.0 TERMS OF REFERENCE 12.0 INTRODUCTION 2

2.1 Background of the Study 2

2.2 Statement of the Problem 4

2.3 Objectives of the Study 4

2.4 Method and Limitations of the Study 5

3.0 FINDINGS 63.1 Breakfast Taken

3.1.1 Time Taken

3.1.2 Frequency of Breakfast Taken

3.1.3 Students grade

3.1.4 Student’s place of living

3.2 Breakfast Skipping

3.2.1 Reason for skipping breakfast

3.2.2 Effect of Skipping Breakfast

3.3 Quality of Breakfast

3.3.1 Types of Breakfast Taken

3.3.2 Content of Breakfast

3.3.3 Impacts of Eating in the Company of others on Breakfast

Routine

3.3.4 Alternatives to Breakfast

3.4 Students’ Performance Measure

3.2.1 Participation

3.2.1 Alertness

3.2.1 Concentration

3.2.1 Mood

3.2.1 Attention

3.5 Memory Test

4.0 CONCLUSION5.0 RECOMMENDATION6.0 REFERENCES

1.0 TERMS OF REFERENCE

On 7th March 2012, Mr Teoh Chee Yong; our BEL422 instructor are requesting us to

provide a written report as part of the course requirements to complete the course. We agreed

to conduct a study on ‘the relationship between breakfast and performance among students of

UiTM Shah Alam’. This study was undertaken to determine the importance of breakfast on

performance in education. We are asked to conduct the study and assigned to find the

materials and resources research has been done before in connection with the topic. This

report was sent on May 9, 2012.

2.0 INTRODUCTION

This section will discuss the background of the study, the statement of the problem, the objectives of the study, methods used and the limitations of the study of 'the relationship between breakfast and performance among students of education’.

2.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Breakfast is very important in our daily lives. By taking breakfast every day, we can

complete the daily routine with active, vibrant and energetic. Breakfast is proven to provide

energy to start the day with better and more vibrant as well, contributing to the sharpness of

mind for learning. According to the American Dietetic Association as reported by the Mayo

Clinic Staff (www.mayoclinic.com) in 2011; children and adolescents who eat a healthy

breakfast are more likely to meet daily nutrient requirements, concentrate better, have better

problem – solving skills as well as eye coordination. In addition, they reported that the

children and adolescents will be more alert, creative, less skipping class and be more

physically active. in the article ‘Breakfast: Do not be Underestimated’, written by Norkumala

binti Awang; research officer to the Centre for Science and Environmental Studies at the

Institute of Islamic Development Malaysia (IKIM) in the Utusan Malaysia ( February 2012)

states that breakfast is the daily needs that cannot be overstated. Breakfast is proven to

provide energy for daily activities throughout the day with a more vigorous and productive.

This is because, when we got out of bed every morning, blood glucose level is low. Then,

taking balanced nutritious meals during breakfast will supply enough energy to start the day

with a fit because the body needs glucose to generate energy. Glucose can be obtained from

the food that we eat every day. If the supply of glucose to the brain is sufficient, it makes an

intelligent, energetic and active. But if not enough glucose in the body, a person will become

inactive; the brain will feel tired, lazy and unable to perform daily activities successfully. So,

not surprisingly, students who did not get breakfast will be less active compared to students

who took breakfast. Breakfast is closely related to health. It is not just to scare us for

breakfast to fill the stomach but also proven to reduce the person's weight. A study in the

journal Obesity Research found that 78 per cent of the respondents were able to lose weight

and maintain weight loss as a result of eating breakfast on a continuous basis. Therefore,

breakfast is not just to increase energy but also can create a good mood, producing a positive

attitude, good mental health and also help someone in charge of the appearance of the body.

Senior Lecturer of Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Putra

Malaysia, Dr Barakatun Nisak Mohd Yusof (January 2012) said the breakfast is very

important to start the day for a person with more energy after more than eight hours of sleep,

especially the brain. She also stated that breakfast was not only provides energy to start a new

day, but many health benefits including weight control and better performance. For example,

by eating a nutritious breakfast and a full, rich in nutrients, vitamins and minerals can provide

energy to the body, can give more focus and better performance in the classroom and more

energy to engage in activities in class or on the field and help reduce cholesterol. Breakfast

type recommended for students including toast and milk, bread and cheese or fried rice or

fried noodles with less oil and added a variety of vegetables. The cakes that are baked or

steamed such as fresh spring rolls were also a good choice. She also added that we can reduce

the amount of processed foods because these foods are high in fat and salt. The students are

not encouraged to eat foods high in fat and sugar in excess because if taken in excessive

amounts can cause drowsiness. She also said that Islam recommends Muslims to take the

morning meal when you want to fast for the supply of energy throughout the day. For those

who are fasting, morning meal is like breakfast. Thus, the practice is not only beneficial to

health, but it also encouraged in Islam. As narrated by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, the Prophet s.a.w.

said: "Eat morning was a blessing, therefore, do not leave even one of them was then sip a

drink of water. Then, Almighty Allah blesses the people who eat pre-dawn meal. Therefore,

breakfast should never be underestimated even if only just to take a favorite drink and a piece

of bread that is also capable of providing significant improvement. She was hope that it

continues to be a practice that ultimately contribute to the health and ibadah to a Creator.

Aminuddin (2006) in his article; ‘Breakfast is Important for Teenagers and Student’

wrote that many nutritionists recommended that students should take breakfast because

breakfast is the main source to begin their daily routine and thus improve their minds. Study

by nutrition experts found that people who have breakfast every day will be able to maintain

good health, systematic, optimistic, has the ideal body shape and most importantly, have a

high skill of thinking. He also added that the breakfast should be taken at 7.00 am to 09.00

am because at the time, in our bodies nutrient absorption occurs in the small intestine. Then,

we are encouraged to take breakfast at least at 7.00 am, if we want to become successful.

2.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Breakfast is always being taken for granted by some people. Based on random

observations carried out in many café, especially in UiTM Shah Alam, it is rare to see

students having breakfast. They just take their first meal at 10.00 am to 12.00 noon.

Aminuddin (2006) said many people especially students always skipped the morning meal

due to some reasons. They just don’t realize about the importance of taking breakfast even

breakfast is vital in life. He said that many students did not take their meal before they went

to the school and they only took their first meal around 10.00 a.m. and above in school. They

also ignore the nutrient content of food they eat every day and sometimes, they just choose

their favorite foods to eat in the morning. For example, they just eat foods like nuggets and

sausages. This phenomenon is common in school life. This is because they do not realize the

importance of breakfast for stimulating the brain for learning purposes. Therefore, this report

was aimed to examine the importance of breakfast on learning performance of students in

UiTM Shah Alam.

2.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To study the breakfast-taking students’ in their alertness and learning performance.

To study the most chosen or favorable breakfast taken by the students.

To investigate the reasons why some of the students skipped their breakfast.

To identify the health problem symptoms faced by the respondent regarding to breakfast

taken.

To test the memory level between students who are taking breakfast and non-taken

breakfast.

To study the nutrients taken by the students every morning and its relationship with their

health.

2.4 METHOD AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

In this study, we use various methods including conducting surveys, providing

questionnaires to be completed by randomly selected respondents. We also run a memory test

to assess differences between the memories of students who take breakfast with who do not

take breakfast. To add input, we also examine the research papers that have been made by

nutrition experts, the opinions of experts in health associations, relevant journals and articles

on this topic. However, there are some shortcomings in carrying out this study. Among them

are a short study period, i.e. only 10 weeks to carry out the study, the relatively limited scope,

constraints opinions from local health experts because most of the studies done by

international experts and the number of respondents willing to surveyed. Apart from that, the

participants were not gathered randomly. Thus, convenience sampling was used instead

because the participants were easily accessed this way. There is also limited in finding the

real respond from the respondents because their tendency to not answering the question in the

real locus is higher where they might be in hurry while answering the questions.

3.0 FINDINGS

From the survey that are conducted, there are 28 students who are taken breakfast and

the other 12 are not take their breakfast. From the 28 students, six people took heavy

breakfast and 22 of them took light food for their breakfast meal.

3.1 BREAKFAST TAKEN

Breakfast taken analysis was examined in the Section A. These students who are

taken breakfast before classes usually take their breakfast around 07.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m.

From our analysis, there are six students, who have their breakfast at 07.00 a.m. to 08.00

a.m., eleven students took breakfast at around 09.00 a.m. and nine of the 28 breakfast-taken

students who took breakfast around 10.00 a.m. and the rest took their breakfast at 10.00 a.m.

to 11.00 a.m. It is shown by the pie chart below.

Figure 1 Time that students usually take their breakfast

The frequency of breakfast taking was examined by responses to Question 3 in

Section A. Table 1 shows that 17 students at least sometimes taking their breakfast with a

large percentage 42.5% indicating that the students almost always skip breakfast.

TABLE 1: Frequency of Breakfast Taking

Response Frequency Percentage (%)

Every day 8 20.0

Often 3 7.5

Sometimes 17 42.5

Very little 0 0

TOTAL 28 70

Result from the survey shows that students who are taking breakfast have CGPA above 3.00

points compared to students who are not taking breakfast. The result is shown by the table.

TABLE 2: The CGPA of Respondents.

BREAKFAST TAKEN BELOW 3.0 ABOVE 3.0YES 8 20NO 2 10

In our survey also, we analysed the place of living for every respondents we met to

see the correlation between the place of living for the students and their habit of taking

breakfast. The results show that many of off-campus students have taken their breakfast

before they went to class compared to the students who stay in-campus.

TABLE 3: Place of Living

BREAKFAST TAKEN HOSTEL OFF – CAMPUSYES 9 19NO 4 8

3.2 BREAKFAST SKIPPING

Abdul Khan (2000) said that more than half of the students in his study at least

sometimes skip their breakfast. In our study, 12 of the respondents responded that they are

skipped their breakfast due to some reasons. Five of them admitted that it is because they get

up late in the morning and four of them said that they usually not hungry in the morning, so

they just skipped their breakfast. One of them said that he spend too much time on other

things every morning as well as another person who said that he don’t like the food. The rest

of four students responded on the question by saying that they skipped breakfast because they

do not like to eat in the morning and the food is not available at that time. All these reasons

caused them to skip their breakfast every day. The result from this is shown by the table

below.

TABLE 4: REASON FOR SKIPPING BREAKFAST

NO REASONS FREQUENCY1 Usually not hungry 42 Get up late 53 Spend too much time on other things 14 Dieting 05 I don’t like the food 16 Do not like to eat in the morning 27 Food not available 2

TOTAL 15

In Section E, we also examined the preferable place if the students do not eat

breakfast at home. The students respond to Question 5 in this section. From the survey, it

shows that many of students preferred to eat at cafeteria. This suggests that the students may

have proper eating habit. This can be illustrated by the pie chart below.

Figure 2: Preferable place for breakfast

3.2.1 Effects of Breakfast Skipping

We has had analysed the symptoms that they may have if they take their breakfast or

if they are not take any meals during breakfast time. From our analysis, 42.86% of students

who eat breakfast said that they had sleepiness every morning and 32.14% of them said that

they suffering from stomach pain every morning. They also agreed that they always felt

indecisiveness and anxiety every morning. 25% of them felt nervous as well. This can be

seen in the following Table 5.

TABLE 5: RESULT FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE TAKING BREAKFAST

BREAKFAST-TAKER STUDENTS

PHYSICAL MENTAL

SYMPTOMS FREQUENCY % SYMPTOMS FREQUENCY %

HEADACHE 6 21.43 INDECISIVENESS 5 17.86SLEEPINESS 12 42.86 ANGER 1 3.57STOMACH PAIN

9 32.14 ANXIETY 5 17.86

MUSCLE FATIGUE

4 14.29 IRRITABILITY 0 0

NONE 11 39.29 UNHAPPINESS 1 3.57NERVOUSNESS 7 25.00

NONE 18 64.29

Most of the students who are not taken their breakfast physically felt sleepy and they also felt

nervous every morning. However, they felt irritable every morning compared to students who

are taken their breakfast. This is shown by the table below.

TABLE 6: RESULT FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT TAKING BREAKFAST

NON-BREAKFAST TAKEN STUDENTS

PHYSICAL MENTAL

SYMPTOMS FREQUENCY % SYMPTOMS FREQUENCY %

HEADACHE 3 25.00 INDECISIVENESS

0 0

SLEEPINESS 6 50.00 ANGER 1 8.33STOMACH PAIN

2 16.67 ANXIETY 1 8.33

MUSCLE FATIGUE

0 0 IRRITABILITY 2 16.67

NONE 4 33.33 UNHAPPINESS 2 16.67NERVOUSNESS

4 33.33

NONE 7 58.33

3.3 QUALITY OF BREAKFAST

3.3.1 Types of Breakfast Taken

From that seven categories of food that are examined, 37.5% of the 28 students who

are taken breakfast always took bread and toast for their breakfast and they usually have it

with jam, butter, honey etc. 32.5% of them always have biscuits during breakfast. Other food

categories such as cereals are seldom preferable by 45% of the 28 students and 42.5% of

them are took Western food rarely. From all seven food categories, fast food is the food that

is not preferable by 25% of the 28 students to take as their breakfast while 10% of them said

that fast food is not applicable. This is shown in the Table 7.

TABLE 7: Preferable Food

Types of FoodFrequency of Food Taken (%)

Never take

Seldom Often AlwaysNot

ApplicableCereals 7.5 45 12.5 5 2.5Western Food 7.5 42.5 7.5 7.5 7.5Fast Food 25 30 7.5 0 10Biscuits 2.5 12.5 20 32.5 5Fruit and Salad 22.5 25 17.5 2.5 5Bread / Toast 0 17.5 15 37.5 2.5Traditional Food 5 10 22.5 27.5 7.5Others 0 0 0 5 0

Figure 3 Types of preferable food taken during breakfast

3.3.2 Content of Breakfast

The food are groups into two; one having proteins while the other having

carbohydrates. The breakfast having none or negligible amount of either proteins or

carbohydrates was considered less nutritious while the breakfast with any proportion of

proteins and carbohydrates was considered nutritious. There are seven categories of breakfast

meals that are examined in the survey which included cereals, Western food (pizza, spaghetti

etc.), Fast food (KFC, McDonald etc.), biscuits, fruit and salads, bread and toast and

traditional food (Roti Canai, Nasi Lemak etc). Then, all seven food categories are divided

into two groups; which are protein foods (egg, peanut butter, milk, Milo, cheese etc.) and

carbohydrates foods (cereals, bread, nasi lemak etc.). In order to classify high protein and

carbohydrate foods, the following information (taken from food labels available in local

supermarket) was used.

TABLE 8: Nutrition Contains In Food Taken During Breakfast

FOODPROTEIN

(gram/serve)CARBOHYDRATE

(gram/serve)Cereals (QUAKER Oats) 5 27Western Food (spaghetti) 8 43KFC Hot & Spicy Drumstick 11 5Munchy’s Oat Crunch (3 pcs)

2 21

Fruit salad (Banana, apple, mandarin orange)

1.5 21.3

Gardenia Enriched White Bread

5 33

Nasi Lemak 13 80Boiled egg 6.26 0.56Lady’s Choice Creamy Peanut Butter

9 13

Milk 8 13Nestle Milo Chocolate Flavoured Drink Mix

2.4 12.9

Kraft Cheddar Explosion Cheese

2 51

The responses to Question 2 in Section E: ‘What do you put on your toast or bread if

you eat toast or bread?’ showed that only 55% of students put cheese, peanut butter, egg etc.

on toast or bread. This suggests that the rest may not be having sufficient proteins in their

breakfast while having breakfast on the way to class. This is shown by the table below.

TABLE 9: Frequency responses to Question 2

Food Frequency Per cent

Not taken 12 30.0

butter 2 5.0

jam 6 15.0

peanut butter 3 7.5

egg 1 2.5

nothing 6 15.0

more than one topping

10 25.0

Total 40 100.0

The responses to Question 3 of Section E: ‘What drink do you usually have for

breakfast?’, almost of the students who have breakfast on the way to school (95%) drink any

kind of drink or nothing because managing to have a water on the way to faculty seems hard.

This shows that the students did not consume enough water in their daily routine.

TABLE 10: Frequency responses to Question 2

Drinks Frequency Per cent

Not taken 12 30.0

tea 5 12.5

coffee 4 10.0

water 2 5.0

juice 1 2.5

milo 5 12.5

nothing 1 2.5

more than one drink

10 25.0

Total 40 100.0

3.3.3 Impacts of Eating in the Company of others on Breakfast Routine

The impacts of eating in the company of others on breakfast routine were also looked

into through Question 4. Sometimes this could be a factor for skipping breakfast in the

Figure 4 Preferable topping among students

Figure 5 Preferable drinks among students

morning. Having breakfast with company of other people could encourage the students to

regularly have breakfast. This is shown by the table below.

TABLE 11: Companion during Breakfast

Companions Frequency Per cent

Not taken 12 30.0

own 15 37.5

with some of family

3 7.5

with all family 2 5.0

with all friends 4 10.0

with family or alone

2 5.0

with family or friends

1 2.5

with friends or alone

1 2.5

Total 40 100.0

3.3.4 The Alternatives to Breakfast

The timing of the first meal of the day was examined if students skipped their breakfast

through Question 6. Out of those who skip breakfast (12 students), there is (%) eat nothing

until lunch hour. They chose to have their first meal in some other time and places. This can

be shown by the following table.

TABLE 12: Alternatives to Breakfast at Home

Alternatives Frequency Per cent

Not taken 12 30.0

before 8 a.m. 6 15.0

8 - 10 a.m. 16 40.0

during lunch hour

6 15.0

Total 40 100.0

Figure 6 Companion during breakfast

Figure 7 Alternatives to breakfast

3.4 STUDENTS PERFORMANCE MEASURE

3.4.1 PARTICIPATION

From 28 students who take breakfast, 37.5% of them agreed that they always participate in the class before they had their lunch, while 10% of them disagreed with that statement. This is shown in the table below.

Frequency Percent

Not answer 11 27.5

Disagree 4 10.0

Undecided 7 17.5

Agree 15 37.5

Strongly agree 3 7.5

Total 40 100.0TABLE 13: Participation rate for the students.

Figure 8: Participation of Students in Class

3.4.2 ALERTNESS

42.5% of the students who are eating their breakfast agreed with the statement that they are more alert in classes after they have taken their breakfast. Only 2% of those 28 students are not agreed with that statement. This can be illustrated by the following diagrams.

Frequency Percent

Not answer 11 27.5

Disagree 2 5.0

Undecided 10 25.0

Agree 11 27.5

Strongly agree 6 15.0

Total 40 100.0

TABLE 14: Alertness of the students in classes

Figure 9: Alertness of students in classes

3.4.3 CONCENTRATION

30% of the 28 students that took breakfast agreed with the statement that they hard to concentrate in classes before lunch while the rest disagreed with that statement. They agreed that they easy to concentrate in class before they had their lunch. This is the responses to the Question 2: I find it hard to concentrate in class before I have my lunch and Question 3: I find it easy to concentrate in class before I have my lunch. All these are showed in the tables below

Frequency Percent

Not answer 11 27.5

Strongly disagree

2 5.0

Disagree 7 17.5

Undecided 8 20.0

Agree 11 27.5

Strongly agree 1 2.5

Total 40 100.0

Frequency Percent

Not answer 12 30.0

Strongly disagree

1 2.5

Disagree 10 25.0

Undecided 10 25.0

Agree 7 17.5

Total 40 100.0

3.4.4 MOOD

42.5% said that their mood is positive in classes before they have lunch. The

other 28.5% said that they are not in mood and not know what they felt every day in

classes.

Frequency Percent

Not answer 11 27.5

Disagree 6 15.0

Undecided 6 15.0

Agree 15 37.5

Strongly agree 2 5.0

Total 40 100.0

TABLE 17: Mood of student before they lunch in class.

3.4.5 ATTENTION

TABLE 15: Frequency rate if they think that they hardly to concentrate in classes.

TABLE 16: Frequency rate if they think that they easy to concentrate in classes.

17.5% of the students said that they felt distracted in classes before lunch

while the other 27.5% said that they can pay 100% attention in class before lunch.

This is measured in the Question 6: I always felt distracted in classes before I have my

lunch and Question 7: I can pay attention 100% in class before lunch.

Frequency Percent

Not answer 11 27.5

Strongly disagree 3 7.5

Disagree 5 12.5

Undecided 14 35.0

Agree 7 17.5

Total 40 100.0

Frequency Percent

Not answer 11 27.5

Disagree 8 20.0

Undecided 10 25.0

Agree 11 27.5

Total 40 100.0

TABLE 18: Distraction in class

TABLE 19: Attention in class

3.5 MEMORY TEST

Figure 10 Memory Test Results

From the above chart, we can see that 17 of the 28 respondents who took breakfast in

the morning could remember more than 15 words compared to the non-taken breakfast which

has only six of them that could remember more than 15 words.

4.0 CONCLUSION

The present study was done to discover if eating breakfast before class improves the

performance of students in their study. It was hypothesized that there is a positive

relationship between eating breakfast before class and student performance. The results of

the study supported the hypothesis partially but not completely. The findings indicated

that there is a positive relationship between eating breakfast and memory. However,

breakfast did not seem to impact the other types of school performance (alertness,

participation, attention, concentration and mood). These results are similar to those found

in past research (Staub, 2009) and they differ from the finding of other studies (Kleinman,

1998)

The study conducted by Staub (2009) came up with similar results to the present

study. In this study, it was found that breakfast did improve memory because those who

ate breakfast before taking the memory tests did receive higher scores than those who are

not taking breakfast.