The number of children who skip breakfast has not dropped despite a campaign that has been going on for several years. According to an online poll on youth health in 2009 by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 27.1 percent of middle and high school students skipped breakfast at least five times a week.

Teachers point out that students who skip breakfast lose nutritional balance and have difficulty concentrating in class. Han Ki-sung, a homeroom teacher at Jamsil High School said, "Students who don't eat breakfast lose concentration in the morning classes and often fall asleep in the afternoon after eating too much for lunch."

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most common reason why children skip breakfast is because they sleep in (46.1 percent). Some 18.8 percent said it has become a habit, 18.2 percent that they do not have time, and 9.8 percent they have no appetite.

The older the students, the more likely they are to skip breakfast as they tend to spend long hours at school and in tutorial institutes.

There are also children who cannot afford breakfast. According to a 2009 national health and nutrition survey, children from low income families tend to skip breakfast more often.

Park Kie-young, a pediatrics professor at Gangneung Asan Hospital College of Medicine at Ulsan University, said, "Teachers need to encourage students to have breakfast, but the mother's job of making breakfast for children matters more."

SOURCE / The Chosun Ilbo