Isabella Iovino1, Janice Stuff2, Yan Liu2, Christie Brewton3, Allison Dovi3, Ronald Kleinman4, Theresa Nicklas5. 1. Department of Pediatrics, Psychology Section, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX; 2. Department of Pediatrics, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX; 3. Department of Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX; and. 4. MassGeneral Hospital for Children, Boston, MA. 5. Department of Pediatrics, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX; tnicklas@bcm.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although many studies have investigated the relation between breakfast consumption and various domains of cognitive functioning within children, some of the reported findings are inconsistent. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the short-term effects of a breakfast meal on the neuropsychological functioning of healthy school-aged children after an overnight fast. DESIGN: The study was conducted in a clinical research center with the use of a counterbalanced repeated-measures design among children who either consumed breakfast or were fasting. The administered neuropsychological tests included measures of attention, impulsivity, short-term memory, cognitive processing speed, and verbal learning. The sample consisted of children aged 8-10 y (n = 128), of whom 52% were female, 38% were African American, 31% were Hispanic, 28% were white, and 3% were of another race/ethnicity. RESULTS: There were no significant (P ≥ 0.004) differences between breakfast meal consumption and fasting for any of the neuropsychological measures administered. CONCLUSION:Breakfast consumption had no short-term effect on neuropsychological functioning in healthy school-aged children. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01943604.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Although many studies have investigated the relation between breakfast consumption and various domains of cognitive functioning within children, some of the reported findings are inconsistent. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the short-term effects of a breakfast meal on the neuropsychological functioning of healthy school-aged children after an overnight fast. DESIGN: The study was conducted in a clinical research center with the use of a counterbalanced repeated-measures design among children who either consumed breakfast or were fasting. The administered neuropsychological tests included measures of attention, impulsivity, short-term memory, cognitive processing speed, and verbal learning. The sample consisted of children aged 8-10 y (n = 128), of whom 52% were female, 38% were African American, 31% were Hispanic, 28% were white, and 3% were of another race/ethnicity. RESULTS: There were no significant (P ≥ 0.004) differences between breakfast meal consumption and fasting for any of the neuropsychological measures administered. CONCLUSION: Breakfast consumption had no short-term effect on neuropsychological functioning in healthy school-aged children. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01943604.