Breakfast’s Impact on Students’ Reading Literacy
Breakfast is known to be the most important meal of the day, especially for young learners—but is this really true? The idea of breakfast being linked to better academic performance is widespread; however, this influence was unstudied in Nordic countries. A study from researchers in Denmark and Norway collected data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) from 2016 comparing the connection between students’ breakfast habits and their reading literacy.
PIRLS sampled fourth-grade students in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway using a two-stage sampling process. In the first stage, schools were randomly selected for the study, followed by a random selection of students from specific classes in the second stage. To test reading literacy, PIRLS used 16 booklets as reading exams, consisting of questions to assess literacy and assign students to a position on a reading scale. Introduce Item Response Theory (IRT) was used as a way to fairly score each student’s literacy based on the questions answered.
After taking the reading exams, students answered a questionnaire meant to measure students’ home and school lives, and one of the questions inquired about students’ breakfast habits providing the options of eating breakfast “every day”, “most days”, “almost never” and “never.” Furthermore, the students’ guardians responded to a home context questionnaire using the “Home Resources for Learning” scale measuring socioeconomic status (SES). The questions in the SES scale included the number of books (children’s included) in the home, the highest level of education of both guardians, the highest level of occupation among guardians, and the amount of study support such as access to the internet and a private studying space.
PIRLS sampled fourth-grade students in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway using a two-stage sampling process. In the first stage, schools were randomly selected for the study, followed by a random selection of students from specific classes in the second stage. To test reading literacy, PIRLS used 16 booklets as reading exams, consisting of questions to assess literacy and assign students to a position on a reading scale. Introduce Item Response Theory (IRT) was used as a way to fairly score each student’s literacy based on the questions answered.
After taking the reading exams, students answered a questionnaire meant to measure students’ home and school lives, and one of the questions inquired about students’ breakfast habits providing the options of eating breakfast “every day”, “most days”, “almost never” and “never.” Furthermore, the students’ guardians responded to a home context questionnaire using the “Home Resources for Learning” scale measuring socioeconomic status (SES). The questions in the SES scale included the number of books (children’s included) in the home, the highest level of education of both guardians, the highest level of occupation among guardians, and the amount of study support such as access to the internet and a private studying space.
Having breakfast was correlated with increased reading performance among students in PIRLS.
Image Source: F1 Digitals
By ultimately adjusting for socioeconomic measures and gender, researchers were able to analyze the effect of breakfast on reading scores. Each Nordic country scored above the international average for reading literacy score, and data indicated that most students had breakfast often. In every Nordic country, students who often ate breakfast scored 20-39 points better than those who didn’t, even after adjusting for SES and gender. Although SES was a key factor to scores, having breakfast on a regular basis still proved itself to be linked to higher reading literacy scores.
It’s clear these countries are doing something right, and eating breakfast seems to be a key factor. Taking inspiration from this research, improving literacy scores could be supported by implementing school breakfast programs and adopting more flexible morning schedules to accommodate families with inconsistent morning routines. By starting their day well-fed, students will feel more ready to learn. This study has shown that even the smallest habits affect academic performance.
It’s clear these countries are doing something right, and eating breakfast seems to be a key factor. Taking inspiration from this research, improving literacy scores could be supported by implementing school breakfast programs and adopting more flexible morning schedules to accommodate families with inconsistent morning routines. By starting their day well-fed, students will feel more ready to learn. This study has shown that even the smallest habits affect academic performance.
Featured Image Source: Pexels
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