Download - correlation between breakfast and student's performnace: case study of student in UiTM Shah Alam
‘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.