UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA

Session 2015/2016,
Semester 2

KUEP 2140 (Biostatistics)

Assignment: Survey & Data Visualisation
Topic: Survey on Breakfast and Lunch
Eating Habits

Lecturer:

Dr. Mas Sahidayana Mokhtar

Students:

Harmony Tan Shi Le

Siti Ashida Asri

KED130002
KED130015

1. 0
INTRODUCTION

An online survey (Google Forms) on eating habits for breakfast and lunch was conducted for a period of
three days, after which a total of 54 responses was collected. The survey was given out through email
and Facebook, and consisted of eight multiple-choice questions on breakfast and lunch routines,
included in the Appendix. Out of 54 responses, 15 were from male responders (27.8%) while 39 were
from female responders (72.2%). None of the responders were retired or unemployed; all were either
students or working persons.

2.0
DATA

Table 1 shows the number of people that eat breakfast or skip breakfast on a daily basis. Table 2 shows
the number of people that eat lunch or skip lunch on a daily basis. S stands for students, while W"
stands for working persons.

Table 2

Table 1

Breakfast?

Male Female
S W S W

Total
Total
S W
34
6 26 8
20
2 17 3

Lunch?

Male
S

Female
S W

Total
Total
S W

7
1

43 10
0 1

53
1

Total
12 3 31 8 43 11 54
Total 12 3 31 8

Table 3 shows the concurrence between eating or skipping breakfast and lunch.

43 11

54

Yes
No

4
8

2 22
1 9

Yes
No

12 3 31
0 0 0

Table 3

Skips
breakfast
19
1
20

Eats breakfast

Eats lunch
Skips lunch
Total

34
0
34

Total
53
1
54

Table 4 shows the combined selection of breakfast foods and drinks.

Table 4

Milk
Tea
Coffee
Milo
Water
Fruit juice
Nothing
Total

Bread
5
2
4
7
5
0
0
23

Cereal
1
3
2
0
3
0
0
9

Rice
0
4
1
2
4
0
0
11

Noodles
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
2

Nothing
0
0
0
2
3
1
3
9

Total
6
9
8
11
16
1
3
54

Table 5 shows the three main staple foods for lunch, and the number of people that eat or do not eat
fruits with their lunch.

Table 5

Eat fruits
No fruits
Total

Bread
2
0
2

Rice
23
21
44

Noodles
5
2
7

Nothing
0
1
1

Total
30
24
54

3.0
RESULTS

The following graphs were generated using Microsoft Excel software.

Percentage of students and working persons that eat or

skip breakfast
39.5%

27.3%

60.5%

72.7%

Student

Working

Eats breakfast

Skips breakfast

Figure 1: Comparison of breakfast eating habits between students and working persons

Figure 1 shows a 100% stacked column graph based on Table 1, comparing the percentage of students
that eat or skip breakfast with the percentage of working persons that eat or skip breakfast. Note that
each column in itself makes up 100% and the column heights are equal because we are not interested in
the raw number of students versus working persons. By using a 100% stacked bar graph instead of a
normal stacked bar graph, we can compare students with working persons despite the unbalanced
number of student and working respondents. Among students, there is a slightly higher percentage that
will choose to skip breakfast compared to working persons.

Percentage of males and females that eat or skip breakfast
28.2%
60.0%
71.8%
40.0%
Male

Female
Eats breakfast

Skips breakfast

Figure 2: Comparison of breakfast eating habits between males and females

Figure 2 shows a 100% stacked column graph based on Table 1, comparing the percentage of males
that eat or skip breakfast with the percentage of females that eat or skip breakfast. Likewise to Figure 1,
this method of visualization allows us to compare between male and female respondents although the
data is skewed towards a greater number of female respondents. There is an obvious difference in
breakfast eating habits between males and females; the majority of males choose to skip breakfast,
while the majority of females choose to eat breakfast.

Percentage of students and working persons that eat or

skip lunch
100.0%

90.9%

9.1%

0.0%
Student

Working
Eats lunch

Skips lunch

Figure 3: Comparison of lunch eating habits between students and working persons

Figure 3 shows a 100% clustered column graph based on Table 2, comparing the percentage of students
that eat or skip lunch with the percentage of working persons that eat or skip lunch. All students eat
lunch, while a small percentage of working persons do not eat lunch.

Percentage of males and females that eat or skip lunch
100.0%

97.4%

2.6%

0.0%
Male

Female
Eats lunch

Skips lunch

Figure 4: Comparison of lunch eating habits between males and females

Figure 4 shows a 100% clustered column graph based on Table 2, comparing the percentage of males
that eat or skip lunch with the percentage of females that eat or skip lunch. All males eat lunch, whereas
a very small percentage of females do not eat lunch.

Percentage of people that eat or skip breakfast and eat or skip lunch
No breakfast

5%

95%

0%

100%

Eats breakfast
0

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Number of people
Eats lunch

No lunch

Figure 5: Correlation between eating habits for breakfast and lunch

Figure 5 shows a stacked bar graph based on Table 3, showing the percentage of people that choose to
either eat or skip breakfast and their corresponding decision to either eat or skip lunch. Note that while
each bar by itself makes up 100%, the lengths of the bars are not equal (unlike in Figures 1 and 2)
because we are interested in the raw number of people in each category. In general, most people choose
to eat breakfast than not, and most people choose to eat lunch than not. Everyone that eats breakfast
chooses to eat lunch as well. The majority of those that do not eat breakfast will eat lunch, except for a
tiny percentage of outliers that choose to skip both main meals.

Percentage of people and their breakfast diet of choice

18
16

18.8%

Number of people

14

6.3%

12
10

18.2%

8
6

16.7%

Noodles
Rice
Cereal
Bread

18.2%

12.5%
12.5%

18.8%

25.0%

4
2

44.4%

25.0%

Food
Nothing

83.3%

33.3%
22.2%

0
Milk

Tea

63.6%
50.0%
Coffee

Milo

31.3%

Water

100.0%

100.0%

Fruit juice

Nothing

Drinks
Figure 6: Comparison of breakfast diets

Figure 6 shows a stacked column graph based on Table 4, showing the percentages of people that
choose various combinations of breakfast foods and drinks. Including the option of not eating breakfast,
there are a total of 35 different combinations shown in Figure 6. Overall, most people drink water with
their breakfast. Coffee and water are drinks of choice to accompany all types of breakfast foods. For
those that do not eat but only drink for breakfast, milo, water or fruit juice are chosen as standalone
drinks to start their day. The bulk of people that drink milk, coffee, milo and water for breakfast will eat
bread. Alternatively, most of those that drink tea will eat noodles. Among the four types of food
(excluding the choice of not eating), noodles is the least popular breakfast food.

Percentage of people that eat fruits with various lunch diets

Bread
3.7%

Bread
Does not eat
fruits
44.4%

Eats fruits
55.6%

Rice
42.6%

Rice
Noodles
Nothing

Noodles
9.3%
Nothing
0.0%
Figure 7: Comparison of lunch diets among those that eat fruits with their lunch

Percentage of people that do not eat fruits with various lunch diets
Bread
0%

Eats fruits
55.6%

Rice
38.9%

Does not
eat fruits
44.4%

Bread
Rice
Noodles
Nothing

Noodles
3.7%
Nothing
1.9%

Figure 8: Comparison of lunch diets among those that do not each fruits with their lunch

Figures 7 and 8 show bar of pie graphs based on Table 5, showing the breakdown percentages of lunch
diets that are accompanied with fruits and without fruits, respectively. Note that the percentages shown
in the bars are over the entire pie chart i.e. sample space, S = {eats fruits, does not eat fruits}. The
majority of people prefer to have fruits with their lunch rather than without. Overall, rice is the most
popular choice of lunch food, followed by noodles, and bread. People that eat bread for lunch are more
likely to eat fruits with their lunch.

4.0
CONCLUSION

Most people practice healthy eating habits for breakfast and lunch i.e. they do not skip these important
meals of the day. Students have a higher probability of skipping breakfast compared to working people,
perhaps due to their inconvenient living conditions on campus and having to rush to class. On the other
hand, while skipping lunch is far more rare than skipping breakfast, working people have a higher
probability of skipping lunch. One possible reason for this is the culture of working through lunch, or
maybe because working people dread sitting through lunch hour traffic.

It will be interesting to further investigate if these habits of skipping breakfast among students, and
skipping lunch among working people is caused by their surroundings or other factors. It is unhealthy
to skip any of the three major meals in a day as it will disturb the bodys metabolism and digestive
routine. Fasting has positive effects, but prolonged skipping of main meals may encourage snacking or
binge-eating at other times of the day. In a fast-paced world where studies and work often take first
priority over wellbeing, it is important to ensure that we keep our surroundings as conducive for
healthy eating habits as possible. Healthy students and healthy workers make a healthy and productive
society.

5.0

APPENDIX