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The effects of breakfast on behavior and academic performance in children and adolescents
Eating breakfast was found to enhance cognition, behavior, and school performance in children, in addition to improving micronutrient intake, dietary quality, lifestyle, and weight. However, these findings were based on the immediate impact of breakfast on cognition, with insufficient evidence on the behavioral impacts of breakfast within the classroom or on academic outcomes. In this literature review by Adolphus, Lawton & Dye (2013), the authors compiled available publications from 1950 and up to 2013 from PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PsychINFO, and EMBASE databases. After controlling for confounders like nutritional status, presence of school breakfast programs (SBPs), and socioeconomics in children and adolescents, the 36 articles that met the review’s inclusion criteria revealed that consuming breakfast improved on-task behaviors in students within the classroom. Furthermore, students who made a habit of eating breakfast or enjoyed an SBP before starting their school day demonstrated improved academic performance, seen best in arithmetics and mathematics, especially in undernourished children. Finally, the authors did observe a degree of evidence attributing the quality of breakfast consumed (in terms of energy intake and food group variety) to improved academic performance, however, these relationships were weakened by the presence of confounders and methodology shortcomings. [NPID: Breakfast, behavior, academic performance, children, adolescents, learning]
Year: 2013
