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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of standardized test scores on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) of students enrolled in Unicoi County Schools, that offers a universal breakfast program, compared with mean scores of students in both public and private schools in the state of Tennessee during the 2007-2008 school year. Test results of 404 Unicoi County third and fourth graders were examined with only the mathematics and reading and language arts sections of the TCAP used in this research. The State means were calculated using data collected from TCAP mathematics and reading and language arts tests in 222 public and private school systems across Tennessee. The concept that nutrition, eating breakfast in particular, played an integral role in cognition has been considered for years. Student assessments are now measured using standardized tests. A school system that featured a universal breakfast program and TCAP scores provided a connection between the 2 areas. Four research questions guided the study. One null hypothesis was generated from each of these questions for a total of 4 null hypotheses. Four one-sample t tests were computed to evaluate the data. The results of the one-sample t tests were that there were no statistically significant differences between the Unicoi County and State TCAP score means in third grade mathematics and reading and language arts. However, there was a statistically significant increase between the Unicoi County and State TCAP score means in fourth grade mathematics and reading and language arts. From the results of the study, it was suggested that school administrators consider implementing school breakfast and universal breakfast programs.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of eating breakfast on energy intake, physical activity, body weight, and body fat in women who were nonhabitual breakfast eaters over a one-month period. METHODS: We tested 49 premenopausal, nonhabitual breakfast-eating women to compare the effects of eating breakfast versus not eating breakfast. Each participant was randomized to one of two conditions: breakfast or no breakfast. Breakfast eaters were required to eat within an hour and a half of awakening and had to be finished eating their breakfast meal by 8:30 A.M. Non-breakfast eaters were defined as not consuming a snack or meal (with the exception of water) until after 11:30 A.M. Participants assigned to the breakfast condition consumed at least 15% of their daily energy requirement for breakfast. Weight and body fat were assessed at the baseline and after one month of intervention. Body fat was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Participants completed seven 24-hour recalls to assess dietary intake during the intervention. Physical activity was measured by accelerometry for 32 consecutive days. RESULTS: On average, the participants randomized to eat breakfast consumed 266 ± 496 (F = 12.81; P = 0.0043) more calories per day over the course of the study and weighed 0.6 ± 0.81 kg (F = 7.81; p = 0.0076) more at the end of the intervention. There was no observed caloric compensation at subsequent meals and no change in self-reported hunger or satiety. There was also no physical activity compensation with the addition of breakfast. CONCLUSION: The findings of our study showed that requiring non-breakfast eaters to eat breakfast resulted in higher caloric intake and weight gain. Future research should evaluate this relationship for a longer period of time to see if adding breakfast to the diet of women who generally do not eat breakfast results in adaptive behavior change over time.

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Although breakfast programs in schools have been encouraged in school-aged children due to numerous benefits on physical and academic performance, participation in School Breakfast Programs (SBP) remains lower than the National School Lunch Program in the United States. Some studies have found that lower participation in the SBP are due to barriers and stigmas. Some studies have found that when breakfast programs are taken into the classroom, uptake of the program improves. However, the relationship between breakfast intake and academic outcomes among young adolescents remains inconclusive. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of a newly implemented Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC) program within a large urban school district in Western Massachusetts. A secondary comparative cross-sectional analysis was conducted to investigate the impact of the “Breakfast in the Classroom” (BIC) program on middle school students’ academic performance, absenteeism rates, and school nurse visits, factors that influence learners positive experience within the school system. Data on a total of 1,897 students from seven public schools in Western Massachusetts were included in the analysis. Linear regression models showed that breakfast in the classroom (BIC) program did not have a significant effect on student academic performance, attendance, and school nurse visits in a cohort of middle school students. Sensitivity analysis on a subset of the sample of students receiving free lunch who are also participants of the BIC program, had significantly higher academic performance outcomes than their BIC peers who were ineligible for the free lunch program. Findings of the study provide important baseline data for both food services and the school board district and can help inform future studies on the impact of the BIC program on student outcomes.

Emotional responses, whether approach or withdrawal motivated, are fundamental factors in all food-related experiences. In this research project four experiments were completed with the goal of contributing to the growing body of research related to food and emotions. Implicit (unstated) measures of attention, emotional expression, and motivational behavior tendencies were assessed as additional supportive information for explicit (cognitive) measures of acceptability and emotional response to food and attributes of food with quality and safety concerns. Differences in explicit responses were evaluated using a 9-point hedonic scale, check-all-that-apply (CATA) emotion term questionnaire, and a six basic emotion intensity ratings scale. Implicit responses of emotion, attention and motivational behaviors were measured using automated facial expression analysis (AFEA), eye-tracking technology, electrocardiography (ECG) and electroencephalography (EEG). An initial study on light-induced milk oxidation flavor quality indicated reliable explicit measures of emotion and consumer acceptability, while AFEA showed a wide range of facial expression. In a following study, five different control breakfast meal videos were created; three were matched with a nearly identical video that contained one of three food concerns, food spoilage quality, hygiene quality and safety. Explicit measures provided solid support for the expected explicit response differences between food concerning and control breakfast meal types. Implicit measures of heart rate, facial motor expressions and frontal cortex asymmetries (brain activity) were only minimally informative across each measure or conclusive across meal types. The use of time series statistical analyses illustrated temporal changes in emotions when compared to a control condition, which was not evident using traditional analysis of variance approaches. A visual attention study investigated use of eye tracking as an indicator of the emotional responses elicited. Eye tracking technologies, as well as the other implicit measures (ECG, EEG, and AFEA), encountered similar limitations pertaining to participant variability due to personal preferences and characteristics, as well as a need for standard methodologies with food as stimuli and appropriate control conditions. With further research in this area of study, implicit measures of emotion, attention and motivational behaviors may provide additional valuable information to more traditional explicit affective methodologies for a greater understanding of the overall consumer food experience. / Ph. D.

Tourism and food are two sectors that have major impact on the environment, including the amount of global greenhouse gases (GHGs) they emit. The potential of the tourism sector to mitigate greenhouse gases through adaptation strategies of food supply and consumption at breakfast buffets in hotels is the major field of investigation in the current study.   This thesis contributes an empirical analysis that uses knowledge from fieldwork in a touristic area in Sweden. The empirical work of this study consists of two steps. First, measuring the (un)sustainability of breakfast buffets in hotels, using the FOODSCALE method, determining potential pathways toward a less greenhouse gas emission intensive food supply and second, to distinguish tourist interest to adopt toward a more climate friendly diet away from home. As food consumption patterns of tourists are considered as critical contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, changes toward a more environmental friendly diet are urgently needed helping substantially in mitigating emissions of GHGs. However, this field has been sparsely explored which made it an interesting and important area for current research in tourism studies.  The results and analysis showed that sustainable food consumption patterns of tourists can be encouraged through breakfast buffets. However, this is depending on a couple of determinants which have to be applied and fulfilled by breakfast buffets in hotels. Tourists interest to adapt toward a more climate friendly diet while being on holidays is depending on their eating habits and their interest in environmental sustainability issues. With the help of the 3 identified guest groups it can be determined that the majority of tourists' is willing to give up carbon-intensive eating habits and change their behavior when being on holidays. Hotels can act as role models, promoting more sustainable behaviour through sustainable food offers at breakfast buffets. The idea of hotels acting as role models focuses on encouraging beneficial decision-making, such as adopting food consumption patterns toward a carbon-neutral diet.

During adolescence, the nutritional needs are higher than at any other time in the lifecycle. Childhood food practices persist into late adolescence and children's food preferences predict their food consumption patterns. Therefore, it is important to understand what influences their preferences and how they change over time. The main objective of this part of the THUSA BANA study was to investigate the eating habits of children aged 10-15 years in the North West Province (NWP). A cross-sectional design was used to investigate the eating habits of the children. A single, random sample, stratified for gender (male/female) and ethnic group (black, white, coloured, Indian) was drawn from schools (primary/secondary) in the five regions in the NWP. Dietary intake data (24-h recall method) were used to evaluate the adequacy of nutrient intakes, while frequencies and mean quantities of food intakes and an eating habits questionnaire were used to establish patterns of intake to identify dietary practices. Overall the diets of children 10-15 years of age were deficient in various micronutrients. The RD/Al's were not met for vitamin A, C, E, folate, pantothenic acid, biotin, calcium, magnesium, zinc and copper. The intake of fibre was low. Girls skipped breakfast more often than boys and children from informal settlements skipped breakfast more often than children from rural and urban areas. A significantly lower BMI was found for the children having breakfast when observing all the children, but not for different age and gender groups. The reason given most for skipping breakfast was not being hungry in the morning, but food availability which may have also played a role. The skipping of breakfast was associated with a lower diet quality. A low intake of fruit and vegetables and high intake of snacks were apparent. The intake of snacks, such as chips, cheese curls and sweets were reported more frequently than fruit or vegetables. Small milk portions and large portions of cold drink were reported, suggesting that cold drink is replacing milk in the diet. Overweight children consumed smaller portions of milk, though no correlation between calcium intake and BMI was found. Overweight boys consumed more carbonated cold drink and overweight girls consumed more squash, showing cold drink intake may be positively related to overweight. The snacks consumed were not nutrient dense and were consumed very regularly. The high intake of snacks may contribute to the low micronutrient and fibre intake. The importance of fruit, vegetables, milk, breakfast and high nutrient dense snacks needs to be emphasized with both the children and their parents. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Dietetics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.