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Impact of School Breakfast and Nutrition Education Program on Macronutrient Breakfast Contribution in School Age Children (9-11 years) in Bogor Indonesia – Part of GESIT Study
By: Emily Schoningh, Purnawati Hustina Rachman, Dodik Briawan, Elma Alfiah, Muhammad Nur Hasan Syah, Reisi Nurdiani, Wahyuni Wulan Oktaviani, Athifa Putri Rialdi, Yuseph Saeful Hidayah, Anne Linde Hagendoorn
At ASN 2026, Flora Food Group presented new evidence that a school breakfast and nutrition education program may increase the contribution of breakfast to children's daily energy and nutrient intakes, with improvements maintained over time
Full Abstract
Objectives: Research suggests for breakfast to contribute 15-30% of the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs). This study aims to evaluate the short and longer-term effect of a breakfast and nutrition education intervention on nutrient intakes in a population that has limited access to balanced breakfast.
Methods: A pre-post quasi-experiment study was conducted in Indonesia’s Bogor Region, among children aged 9-11 years. Six schools were sequentially assigned to one of three groups: 1) BreakfastEdu receiving both breakfast and nutrition education, 2) Edu receiving nutrition education only, and 3) Control followed their usual routine. The intervention was provided for 20 school days in June 2024. Breakfast was defined as all foods consumed before 9:00 am. Nutrition education covered 9 topics including the benefits of a healthy breakfast. A 24h recall was administered with caregivers at baseline, endline and follow-up (3 months post intervention). Breakfast provided as part of the intervention was designed to meet 25-30% of the children’s daily nutrient requirements. Percent (%) contribution (contrib.) was measured against the Indonesian RDAs. The difference in % contrib. from breakfast between the timepoints were measured using a Wilcoxon signed rank test, with significance p≤0.05. Analyses were conducted using software R (version 4.4.3).
Results: 168 children had dietary intake reported at all three timepoints. In the Edu group (n=58) the median % contrib. of breakfast increased from baseline to follow-up for energy (12.9% to 17.5%; p= 0.006) and total fat (14.2% to 20.4%; p= 0.01). In the BreakfastEdu group (n=52) the median % contrib. of breakfast increased between baseline and follow-up for energy, (15.1% to 22.3%, p< 0.001), protein (19.8% to 26.2%, p=0.001), and total fat (15.3% to 32.8%, p< 0.001) and between endline and follow-up for carbohydrates (12.6% to 16.5%, p=0.02) and total fat (32.8% to 22.85%, p=0.01). In the control group (n=58), breakfast contrib. to RDA’s did not change.
Conclusions: Providing children with breakfast and nutrition education can make a positive impact on % contrib. of intakes of macronutrients to the daily recommended allowance. Improvements were sustained at follow-up, suggesting potential longer-term benefits of school breakfast program in improving dietary intake among Indonesian schoolchildren.
Funding Sources: Flora Food Group
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