| Description |
Consumption of a quality breakfast has been shown to benefit students academically, behaviorally, and in regard to overall health. School breakfast is offered at the majority of elementary and secondary schools in the state of Utah. However, Utah has the lowest participation rate in school breakfast programs in the United States, with only 33.9% of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch consuming school breakfast. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if students generally eat breakfast, where they eat breakfast, and if they consume food from four defined food groups. Elementary and secondary students from two rural and two suburban school districts were surveyed using an United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) survey. Two elementary schools, two junior high schools, and one high school were used in the analysis of this study. A total of 154 students participated in the survey and data analysis was conducted using Fisher's Exact Test and two-tailed T-tests. Findings indicate that the majority of students (84.42%) consumed breakfast the day of the survey. Of these, 85.71% consumed breakfast at home. There was no difference in the consumption of breakfast in general or breakfast consumption at school when comparing rural and urban students. Most students surveyed expressed understanding of the benefits to consuming breakfast regularly. However, only 8.46% of students reported that they ate foods from the four food categories needed for a complete breakfast, as defined by USDA. Results of this pilot study can be used to further investigate school breakfast participation in the state of Utah. |
