Can the introduction of an authentic learning exercise lead to the modulation of breakfast behavior in undergraduate students at La Reunion University?

The authentic teaching and learning approach introduce real-world scenarios into the classroom to better engage Generation Z students. Considering this, we introduced an authentic learning practical exercise (breakfast meal and glycemic variation) to undergraduate biology students at the University of La Reunion (France). Here, students were initially briefed regarding the practical and subsequently determined their baseline glucose values (glucometer). They then consumed 200 mL fruit juice together with a pain au chocolat (chocolate pastry) and subsequently recorded their glucose values at regular intervals. The last reading was done after 150 minutes, and they thereafter plotted such data to reveal temporal glycemic variations. During this time, the students also worked on a report to document information collected and began to supply responses to several listed questions. Three weeks after completion of the practical, we evaluated whether this intervention would lead to changes in their views regarding the nature and regularity of breakfast meals intake (employing survey questions). Our findings show that a reasonable proportion of the students indicated that the intervention did change their dietary habits, with 50% sometimes opting for an improved breakfast, while 10% also changed their habits albeit for only a small while. Of note, more than 60% students indicated they changed their breakfast intake habits by the end of the endocrinology module. These findings show that the beneficial effects of authentic teaching approaches may elicit relatively long-lasting changes in terms of breakfast behavioral patterns in young people and that such effects may also impact broader society