Impact of breakfast bar supplementation on nutritional and academic performance of adolescence

The supplementary effect of breakfast bar on nutritional and academic performance was studied among adolescent under the age group of 13-15 years. About 500 adolescents were assessed for their demographic, dietary pattern, breakfast skipping patterns, nutritional status (weight, BMI and body fat percentage) and academic performance (scales such as arithmetic, concept and processes scale, reading and writing scales). About 120g of the developed breakfast bar contributing 1/3rd of the adolescent nutrient requirements was formulated and selected for supplementation. For experimentation study 50 breakfast consumers and 100 breakfast skippers were selected. Fifty breakfast consumers were taken as Control group (n=50) and 100 breakfast skippers were divided into two groups such as Experimental group I (n=50) with no intervention and Experimental group II (n=50) supplemented with 120g breakfast bars daily for the period of 90 days. Results about the nutritional status of the study revealed that there was a significant increase at 1% level in the weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), and body fat percentage levels of both Control and Experimental group II when compared to Experimental group I . Results of academic performance of the study showed a significant increase at 1% level in all the three groups, with less mean difference in Experimental Group I. Thus the present study concluded that consumption of breakfast on regular basis will improve both nutritional and academic performance of adolescents