Badrasawi Manal, Anabtawi Ola, Al-Zain Yaqout
Nutrition and Food Technology Department, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, An-Najah National University, Tulkarm, West Bank PO. Box 7, Nablus, Palestine.
BMC Nutr. 2021 Aug 6;7(1):42. doi: 10.1186/s40795-021-00451-1.
There is growing recognition of the important role of breakfast in children's nutrition, and the potential harms related to skipping breakfast, including its contribution to obesity and non-communicable diseases. The patterns associated with skipping breakfast may be related to the nutrition transition. This study aimed at exploring the composition of breakfast consumed by Palestinian school children and their perceptions toward this meal. It also aimed at exploring skipping breakfast prevalence, reasons, and its association with selected schoolchildren's sociodemographic variables and behavioral patterns.
A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 12- to 14-year-old schoolchildren from 4 governmental schools in urban and rural areas of the Jenin district in Palestine. The questionnaire included information about children and parents sociodemographic and behaviours, breakfast patterns and composition, reasons for skipping breakfast, and items on schoolchildren's perception toward breakfast. Statistical analysis of the relevant factors was undertaken using SPSS software.
In a sample of 193 schoolchildren, only 32% reported consuming breakfast all year round. The main reasons reported for skipping breakfast were not feeling hungry, not having the time, and lack of appetite. The vast majority (79%) believed breakfast was beneficial for general health. Sleeping before 10 pm, regular exercise (p value < 0.05). and shorter screen time were all significantly associated with a higher level of breakfast consumption (p value < 0.01).
Understanding the reasons for missing or skipping breakfast factors which make skipping it more likely, should inform public health strategies to promote breakfast consumption. For example, our findings suggest that awareness of the importance of breakfast was not a significant contributor to skipping breakfast, compared to other structural and cultural factors.
人们越来越认识到早餐在儿童营养中的重要作用，以及不吃早餐可能带来的危害，包括其对肥胖和非传染性疾病的影响。与不吃早餐相关的模式可能与营养转型有关。本研究旨在探讨巴勒斯坦学童早餐的构成及其对这一餐的看法。它还旨在探讨不吃早餐的流行率、原因，以及它与选定的学童社会人口统计学变量和行为模式之间的关联。
对巴勒斯坦杰宁地区城乡4所政府学校的12至14岁学童进行了一项横断面在线调查。问卷包括有关儿童和家长的社会人口统计学和行为、早餐模式和构成、不吃早餐的原因，以及学童对早餐看法的项目。使用SPSS软件对相关因素进行统计分析。
在193名学童的样本中，只有32%的人报告全年都吃早餐。报告的不吃早餐的主要原因是不饿、没有时间和食欲不振。绝大多数（79%）人认为早餐对总体健康有益。晚上10点前睡觉、经常锻炼（p值<0.05）以及较短的屏幕使用时间都与较高的早餐消费水平显著相关（p值<0.01）。
了解不吃早餐的原因以及更有可能导致不吃早餐的因素，应为促进早餐消费的公共卫生策略提供依据。例如，我们的研究结果表明，与其他结构和文化因素相比，对早餐重要性的认识并不是导致不吃早餐的重要因素。
