Consumption of ready-to-eat cereals (RTEC) among Malaysian children and association with socio-demographics and nutrient intakes – findings from the MyBreakfast study

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics differences between acceptable reporters (n = 1955) and unacceptable reporters (n = 2955) who were breakfast consumers.

Characteristics	Acceptable reporters	Unacceptable reporters	χ^2	p-value
	n (%)	n (%)
Area			0.72	0.732
Urban	1330 (40.0)	1996 (60.0)
Rural	625 (39.5)	959 (60.5)
Sex			18.46	0.000
Boys	809 (36.5)	1407 (63.5)
Girls	1146 (42.5)	1548 (57.5)
Age groups			15.29	0.000
6 – 9 years	1171 (42.2)	1603 (57.8)
10 – 12 years	784 (36.7)	1352 (63.3)
Ethnic groups			30.17	0.000
Malay	1334 (41.9)	1847 (58.1)
Chinese	263 (32.1)	557 (67.9)
Indian	130 (35.6)	235 (64.4)
Bumiputera Sabah/Sarawak	228 (41.9)	316 (58.1)
Income group (MYR)			4.00	0.136
Low (<1500)	629 (40.9)	908 (59.1)
Middle (1501–7500)	1058 (38.7)	1676 (61.3)
High (>7500)	217 (42.7)	291 (57.3)
Father’s education level			1.87	0.172
Secondary and below	1155 (39.1)	1797 (60.9)
Tertiary	701 (41.2)	1002 (58.8)
Mother’s education level			0.53	0.477
Secondary and below	1196 (39.4)	1836 (60.6)
Tertiary	691 (40.5)	1014 (59.5)
RTEC consumption			4.08	0.045
RTEC consumers	347 (43.0)	460 (57.0)
Non-RTEC consumers	1608 (39.2)	2496 (60.8)

Table 2. Socio-demographic characteristics of RTEC and non-RTEC consumers (n = 1955).

Variable	Total, n	Breakfast choice groups		χ^2	p-value
		RTEC consumers	Non-RTEC consumers
		n (%)	n (%)
Overall	1955	347 (17.7)	1608 (82.3)
Regions				16.68	0.002
Central	348	69 (19.9)	279 (17.4)
Southern	343	83 (23.9)	260 (16.2)
Northern	541	88 (25.4)	453 (28.2)
East Coast	368	50 (14.4)	318 (19.8)
East Malaysia	355	57 (16.4)	298 (18.5)
Area				6.08	0.014
Urban	1330	256 (73.8)	1074 (66.8)
Rural	625	91 (26.2)	534 (33.2)
Sex				0.73	0.394
Boys	809	136 (39.2)	673 (41.9)
Girls	1146	211 (60.8)	935 (58.1)
Age groups				7.49	0.006
6 – 9 years	1171	231 (66.6)	940 (58.5)
10 – 12 years	784	116 (33.4)	668 (41.5)
Ethnic groups				29.89	<0.001
Malay	1334	229 (66.0)	1105 (68.7)
Chinese	263	34 (9.8)	229 (14.2)
Indian	130	45 (13.0)	85 (5.3)
Bumiputera Sabah/Sarawak	228	39 (11.2)	189 (11.8)
Income groups (MYR^†) (n = 1905)				17.21	<0.001
Low (<1500)	629	81 (23.8)	548 (35.0)
Middle (1501–7500)	1058	209 (61.5)	849 (54.3)
High (>7500)	217	50 (14.7)	167 (10.7)
Father’s education level^‡ (n = 1856)				12.13	<0.001
Secondary and below	1155	180 (53.7)	975 (64.1)
Tertiary	701	155 (46.3)	546 (35.9)
Mother’s education level^‡ (n = 1887)				11.60	0.001
Secondary and below	1196	187 (55.2)	1009 (65.2)
Tertiary	691	152 (44.8)	539 (34.8)
Bodyweight status^§				2.14	0.544
Severely thin and thin	186	39 (11.2)	147 (9.1)
Normal	1481	253 (72.9)	1228 (76.4)
Overweight	166	32 (9.2)	134 (8.3)
Obese	122	23 (6.6)	99 (6.2)

^†MYR – Malaysian Ringgit

^‡Secondary and below: receieved ≤12 years of formal education; Tertiary: receieved >12 years of formal education

^§Based on BMI-for-age z-scores: Severely thin and thin (z-score<-2SD); Normal (−2SD≤z-score≤+1SD); Overweight (+1SD<z-score≤+2SD) and obese (z-score>+2SD)

Table 3. List of top 10 most frequently consumed food items at breakfast by all the children, RTEC consumers and non-RTEC consumers.

All children (n = 1955)	%	Mean±SD^†	RTEC consumers (n = 347)	%	Mean±SD^†	Non-RTEC consumers (n = 1608)	%	Mean±SD^†
Malted beverage	64.4	20.4 ± 23.3	RTEC	100.0	23.8 ± 20.1	Malted beverage	64.1	20.6 ± 24.0
Bread	40.9	40.1 ± 32.6	Malted beverage	65.7	19.7 ± 20.2	Bread	44.2	40.8 ± 33.6
Condensed milk	37.3	10.7 ± 9.1	UHT milk	56.5	117.5 ± 68.2	Condensed milk	36.7	10.7 ± 9.3
Sugar and preserves	34.1	9.1 ± 15.3	Condensed milk	39.8	10.7 ± 8.6	Sugar and preserves	36.7	9.4 ± 16.2
Eggs	29.2	29.3 ± 23.8	Bread	25.6	34.5 ± 23.1	Eggs	31.8	29.4 ± 24.9
Nasi lemak^‡	21.2	102.7 ± 47.1	Powdered milk	25.1	33.0 ± 40.9	Nasi lemak	23.9	102.6 ± 47.6
Tea/coffee	20.7	106.1 ± 81.1	Sugar and preserves	22.2	6.7 ± 4.4	Tea/coffee	22.4	103.6 ± 82.6
Chicken and meat	20.2	55.3 ± 38.2	Eggs	17.3	28.5 ± 10.4	Fried rice	21.6	138.4 ± 78.2
Fried rice	19.3	137.8 ± 77.5	Chicken and meat	14.7	46.1 ± 33.4	Chicken and meat	21.4	56.7 ± 38.7
RTEC	17.7	23.8 ± 20.1	Unleavened bread	14.1	58.4 ± 29.6	Processed fish	19.7	14.1 ± 16.1

^†All measurement units are in grams (g), except for tea/coffee and UHT milk, which are in mililitres (ml)

^‡Nasi lemak – rice cooked in coconut milk.

Table 4. Comparison of nutrient intakes between RTEC and non-RTEC consumers (n = 1819).

Nutrient	RTEC consumers (n = 331)			Non-RTEC consumers (n = 1488)			p-value^†,a	p-value^†,b
	Breakfast intake (Mean±SD)	Daily intake (Mean±SD)	Breakfast intake as a % of daily intake (%)	Breakfast intake (Mean±SD)	Daily intake (Mean±SD)	Breakfast intake as a % of daily intake (%)
Energy, kcal	441 ± 186	1816 ± 314	24.5	466 ± 197	1794 ± 312	26.3	0.502	0.063
Protein, g	14.9 ± 7.9	81.1 ± 26.1	19.3	15.7 ± 8.2	79.8 ± 23.8	20.8	0.696	0.746
% Energy from protein	13.5 ± 3.8	17.9 ± 4.7		13.4 ± 4.1	17.8 ± 4.3		0.916	0.768
Carbohydrate, g	61.8 ± 23.2	228.0 ± 49.1	27.6	62.3 ± 25.4	220.5 ± 47.6	28.8	0.005	0.005
% Energy from carbohydrate	57.7 ± 10.0	50.3 ± 7.3		55.1 ± 12.0	49.2 ± 7.4		<0.001	0.011
Fat, g	14.8 ± 8.1	68.2 ± 17.6	22.4	17.8 ± 9.5	68.7 ± 17.7	26.5	<0.001	0.017
% Energy from fat	29.6 ± 8.7	33.7 ± 5.7		33.6 ± 10.6	34.4 ± 5.8		<0.001	0.048
Total Sugar, g^‡	17.1 ± 15.6	41.7 ± 21.8	47.1	9.5 ± 8.8	32.5 ± 20.9	34.2	≤0.001	≤0.001
Vitamin A, mg RE	156.9 ± 161.5	1026.2 ± 432.6	16.9	222.7 ± 219.7	1011.7 ± 441.8	23.3	<0.001	0.429
Vitamin C, mg	21.2 ± 11.5	72.6 ± 43.7	36.7	10.4 ± 9.1	54.2 ± 39.8	25.0	<0.001	<0.001
Thiamin, mg	0.6 ± 0.3	1.2 ± 0.5	50.2	0.3 ± 0.2	0.9 ± 0.4	38.1	<0.001	<0.001
Riboflavin, mg	0.8 ± 0.4	1.7 ± 0.6	48.0	0.4 ± 0.2	1.3 ± 0.5	34.2	<0.001	<0.001
Niacin, mg	6.7 ± 3.3	16.2 ± 4.9	41.9	4.0 ± 2.4	13.4 ± 4.7	30.6	<0.001	<0.001
Sodium, mg	390.5 ± 305.2	1901.1 ± 734.5	21.3	573.7 ± 395.9	2037.8 ± 751.9	29.1	<0.001	<0.001
Calcium, mg	315.0 ± 159.1	741.9 ± 254.4	43.4	192.5 ± 109.2	586.2 ± 225.2	34.1	<0.001	<0.001
Iron, mg	6.4 ± 3.1	20.1 ± 6.6	33.3	6.2 ± 4.7	19.2 ± 7.3	32.6	0.007	0.013
Phosphorus, mg	214.6 ± 156.8	1239.6 ± 453.5	18.6	251.6 ± 158.1	1240.8 ± 440.6	21.9	0.002	0.527

^†Data were adjusted for region, area, age (years), ethnic group, income group, father’s education level, mother’s education level and energy intake (except for the analysis for energy) using ANCOVA. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. ^‡Data were incomplete as some of the foods and beverages do not have information on the sugar content. ^aIntake at breakfast between RTEC consumers and other breakfast consumers. ^bDaily intake between RTEC consumers and other breakfast consumers.

Figure 1. Percentage contribution of RTEC to total daily nutrient intake among RTEC consumers (n = 347).

Table 5. Distribution of RNI achievements among RTEC and non-RTEC consumers according to gender.

	Boys					Girls
	RNI^†	RTEC consumers	Non-RTEC consumers			RNI	RTEC consumers	Non-RTEC consumers
		RNI achievement, n (%)	RNI achievement, n (%)				RNI achievement, n (%)	RNI achievement, n (%)
Variables		<80	<80	χ^2	p-value		<80	<80	χ^2	p-value
Vitamin A, mg RE
6–9 years	500	1 (1.1)	29 (7.3)	4.87	0.027	500	13 (9.2)	34 (6.3)	1.53	0.216
10–12 years	600	3 (6.5)	32 (11.6)	1.05	0.306	600	5 (7.1)	50 (12.8)	1.78	0.182
Vitamin C, mg
6–9 years	35	11 (12.2)	109 (27.5)	9.17	0.002	35	12 (8.5)	162 (29.8)	26.83	<0.001
10–12 years	65	15 (32.6)	157 (56.9)	9.34	0.002	65	32 (45.7)	226 (57.7)	3.43	0.064
Thiamin, mg
6–9 years old	0.9	10 (11.1)	131 (33.0)	17.09	<0.001	0.9	14 (9.9)	217 (40.0)	45.14	<0.001
10–12 years	1.2	8 (17.4)	166 (60.1)	29.02	<0.001	1.1	24 (34.3)	224 (42.9)	12.48	<0.001
Riboflavin, mg
6–9 years	0.9	0 (0.0)	19 (4.8)	4.48	0.034	0.9	0 (0.0)	40 (7.4)	11.03	<0.001
10–12 years	1.3	3 (6.5)	91 (33.0)	13.34	<0.001	1.0	5 (7.1)	60 (15.3)	3.27	0.070
Niacin, mg
6–9 years	12	3 (3.3)	78 (19.6)	14.08	<0.001	12	8 (5.7)	130 (23.9)	23.19	<0.001
10–12 years	16	5 (10.9)	102 (37.0)	12.09	0.001	16	22 (31.4)	188 (48.0)	6.55	0.011
Calcium, mg
6–9 years	700	17 (18.9)	180 (45.3)	21.31	<0.001	700	39 (27.7)	300 (55.2)	34.08	<0.001
10–12 years	1000	25 (54.3)	221 (80.1)	14.47	<0.001	1000	49 (70.0)	343 (87.5)	14.15	<0.001
Iron, mg
6–9 years	6	0 (0.0)	3 (0.8)	0.68	0.408	6	0 (0.0)	2 (0.4)	0.52	0.470
10–12 years	10	0 (0.0)	3 (1.1)	0.51	0.477	9	0 (0.0)	5 (1.3)	0.90	0.342

^†RNI – Recommended Nutrient Intake (NCCFN, 2005)