Weekday breakfast habits and mood at the start of the school morning

Masato KAWABATA, Stephen Francis BURNS, Hui-Cheng CHOO, Kerry LEE

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

Abstract

Background: Good nutrition, regular physical activity, and adequate sleep are important for promoting health. However, it is not well characterized how these lifestyle behaviours are associated with mood at the start of school days.

Aim: To identify the weekday health-related behaviours (breakfast intake, physical activity, and sleep) of Singaporean adolescents and explore their associations with mood at the beginning of the school morning.

Methods: 365 adolescents (52.3% boys, 47.7% girls) aged 14–19 years (M = 16.9, SD = 1.3 years) completed a survey set on breakfast habits, physical activity participation, sleep duration, and mood.

Results: More than one-third (38.6%) of participants never (15.0%) or irregularly (23.6%) consumed breakfast on weekdays. Adolescents consuming breakfast irregularly reported significantly higher negative mood scores than regular breakfast consumers (p = .002; d = .404). Almost two-thirds (64.1%) of adolescents did <60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on weekdays and reported lower positive morning mood scores than those who ≥60 min of MVPA (p = .014; d = .284). Although most (88.3%) adolescents slept <8 h each night, sleep duration was not related to either positive mood or negative mood.

Conclusion: The present study suggests that eating breakfast on a regular basis and completing for ≥60 min of weekday MVPA are useful behaviours to start school days in a better mood. Parents and health educators should recognise the importance of establishing these habits and support students by instigating practical approaches so they can achieve a regular breakfast intake and physical activity engagement. Copyright © 2022 by SAGE Publications.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)149-156
JournalNutrition and Health
Volume30
Issue number1
Early online dateJun 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2024

Citation

Kawabata, M., Burns, S. F., Choo, H.-C., & Lee, K. (2024). Weekday breakfast habits and mood at the start of the school morning. Nutrition and Health, 30(1), 149-156. https://doi.org/10.1177/02601060221105413

Keywords

  • Breakfast
  • Exercise
  • Moods
  • Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity
  • Sleep

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