Breakfast is associated with enhanced cognitive function in schoolchildren. An internet based study.

In this study, 1386 children aged between 6 and 16years, from schools throughout the UK, logged on to a web site before lunch during Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2004. They answered a number of questions concerning their food and drink consumption that day and performed cognitive tests of attention and episodic memory. Children who had had breakfast showed superior performance on tests of attention and memory, confirming a previous laboratory based study using the same cognitive tests. This study adds weight to the growing body of literature indicating that breakfast plays a positive role in maintaining cognitive function during the morning.