FED: Australian students have hungry minds, grumbling stomachs
By Danny Rose, Medical Writer24 Mar 2009 12:01
Subject: FED: Australian students have hungry minds, grumbling stomachs FED: Australian students have hungry minds, grumbling stomachs Eds: Embargoed to 0001 AEDT Tuesday, March 24
SYDNEY, March 24 AAP - More than 40 per cent of Australian kids start at least one school day every week on an empty stomach.
A national survey conducted by a major private health insurer has found an alarming number of children are sent off to school on the mental equivalent of "an empty petrol tank".
While a positive 58 per cent of Australian students aged six to 18 "never" miss breakfast on a school day, the MBF Healthwatch survey found there were eight per cent of kids who never ate it.
It also found 14 per cent of children skipped the meal for three to four days of the school week, while 20 per cent missed breakfast for one or two days.
"Research shows that skipping breakfast results in reduced learning, reduced attention and poor food choices for the rest of the day," said Dr Christine Bennett, chief medical officer of Bupa Australia which owns MBF.
"(Like) driving your car on an empty petrol tank, it inevitably runs out when you most need it."
The study took in the responses of more than 1,200 people.
When researchers turned to a state-by-state analysis, they found children in Western Australia and Queensland were least likely to eat breakfast.
Children in those states skipped the meal at an average weekly rate of 1.5 days and 1.4 days respectively.
Victoria was next at 1.2 days followed by NSW, ACT, South Australia and the Northern Territory all tied on one day.
Tasmanian kids were found to be most likely to eat breakfast, with the state coming in at just 0.6 of a day, while the national rate was 1.2 days.
Dr Bennett said the major reasons given for missing the meal included there was "no time" to serve it, the children were "too tired" or they "can't be bothered".
"We know that Australian families live in a time poor society," Dr Bennett said.
"But the importance of making time for children to enjoy a healthy breakfast before going to school cannot be overstated."
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FED: Australian students have hungry minds, grumbling stomachs