Skipping breakfast among 8-9 year old children is associated with teacher-reported but not objectively measured academic performance two years later

Table 3 Longitudinal associations between skipping breakfast aged 8-9 years and teacher-reported behavior aged 10-11 years (N = 1665)

Behavior subscale and category of skipping breakfast			Model 1^b	Model 2^c	Model 3^d
Behavior subscale and category of skipping breakfast	n	Mean ± SD^a	Diff (95% CI)^e	Diff (95% CI)^e	Diff (95% CI)^e
Internalizing problems
Never skipped	1481	2.22 ± 2.92	0 (ref)	0 (ref)	0 (ref)
≥ 1 skips	177	2.40 ± 3.03	0.35 (−0.30, 1.00)	0.28 (−0.32, 0.88)	0.17 (−0.74, 1.07)
P-value			0.29	0.36	0.72
Externalizing problems
Never skipped	1481	2.85 ± 3.52	0 (ref)	0 (ref)	0 (ref)
≥ 1 skips	177	3.08 ± 3.69	1.73 (−1.28, 4.74)	1.13 (−1.46, 3.71)	0.14 (−0.37, 0.64)
P-value			0.26	0.39	0.60
Prosocial behavior
Never skipped	1486	7.97 ± 2.17	0 (ref)	0 (ref)	0 (ref)
≥ 1 skips	179	7.66 ± 2.21	−0.31 (−0.58, −0.05)	−0.26 (−0.51, −0.01)	−0.26 (−0.56, 0.03)
P-value			0.02	0.04	0.08

^aValues are the unadjusted mean ± SD score for the three scales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Better behavior is indicated by lower scores for internalizing problems (range 0 – 18) and externalizing problems (range 0 – 20) and higher scores for prosocial behavior (range 0 – 10)
^bModel 1: adjusted for sex and age at interview
^cModel 2: adjusted for sex, age at interview and SES (measured at Wave 3)
^dModel 3: Model 2 plus the following additional covariates internalizing problems – two-parent home, self-reported health of primary caregiver, smoking status of primary caregiver, financial hardship, reading progress; externalizing problems – self-reported health of primary caregiver, smoking status of primary caregiver, financial hardship, reading progress; prosocial behavior – two parent home, reading progress
^eDifferences between breakfast skippers and breakfast eaters were calculated using linear regression

ISSN: 2055-0928