BREAKFAST is important. It provides fuel and energy for the body till midday. People who always skip breakfast have problems on concentration, metabolism and are  likely to become obese.

The importance of breakfast to students is very essential since they need to stay active mentally and physically in school.

Experts in Nutrition Science and Technology of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute studied the knowledge, attitude and behavior of high school students regarding eating breakfast. The team is composed of Merlyn Tajan, Dr. Celeste Tanchoco and Consuelo Orense and they interviewed and studies 658 high school students in two public and two private schools in Metro Manila.

Forty-nine percent of students  in public and private schools showed medium level of knowledge about taking breakfast although many of them eat their breakfast  in school canteens or cafeterias or in nearby fast food restaurants.

Majority of the students (98.2 percent) took their breakfast, with 66.4 percent that took it almost every day. Half of the students do skip their breakfast once a week.

However, the prevalence of eating breakfast is mostly done outside home especially to students who have early morning classes. Students from public schools ate their breakfast at the school canteen while students from private school preferred fast food restaurants.

However, when their breakfast was prepared by their parents, majority of them eat what their mother prepared. This incident is very high among students in public schools.

“The students’ knowledge about breakfast eating was at medium level and majority had strong  positive attitude on having breakfast,” the team noted.

Since many students eat their breakfast outside home, they recommend that canteens, cafeterias and fast food restos should offer healthy breakfast meals.

A separate study is said to be done to include peer influence, perceptions and belief system on eating breakfast.