The energy and nutrient content of breakfast meals eaten at school and breakfast meals eaten at home

Obesity has become a pandemic chronic issue in Western society. Of high concern for modern Western societies is the pediatric obesity epidemic. Different risk factors may affect the prevalence of childhood obesity including eating habits such as consumption of breakfast, a behavior that may contribute to long term success in weight maintenance. This study aimed to examine the energy and nutrient content of breakfast meals by its source (Home, School). Total daily intakes were compared with data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2001-2004, 2007-2008) reported by the United States Department of Agriculture. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out. Results indicated that there were statistically significant differences for the content of some micronutrients and food groups for breakfast meals eaten at home and breakfast meals eaten at school at the significance level of less than 0.05 ( P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference for energy content of breakfast meals by the source (Home, School) at the P≤0.05 level.