Children and learning
Many studies have shown that children who skip breakfast in the morning perform less well at school. More than 1,300 children took part in an online study as part of Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2004 and the results showed that children who ate breakfast had superior cognitive function, paid more attention and responded more quickly to tasks they were given. Research also shows that children are better at problem-solving after having breakfast13. Eating breakfast helps children to perform better in school, in both mathematical and creative tasks14,15.
Another study with 64 children aged 6 to 11 found that decline in performance throughout the morning can be significantly reduced by eating a low glycaemic index (GI) breakfast, such as porridge, muesli or bran-enriched cereal compared to a high GI breakfast, such as white toast16.
Studies which looked at school breakfast programmes found that children who take part achieve better grades in maths, take less time off school and are late less frequently17,18.
13 Pollitt E. & Mathews R. 1998, Breakfast and cognition: an integrative summary, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 67 (4): 804S‐813.
14 yon DP, Abrahamsson L, Järtelius M, Fletcher RJ. 1997, An experimental study of the effects of energy intake at breakfast on the test performance of 10-year-old children in school. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 48 5-12.
15 Kleinman RE, Hall S, Green H, Korzec-Ramirez D, Patton K, Pagano ME, Murphy JM. 2002, Diet, breakfast, and academic performance in children. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 46 (suppl 1): 24-30.
16 Ingwersen J, Defeyter MA, Kennedy DO, Wesnes KA & Scholey AB. 2007, A low glycaemic index breakfast cereal preferentially prevents children's cognitive performance from declining throughout the morning Appetite, 49 (1): 240‐244.
17 Chandler, AMK, Walker SP, Connolly K & Grantham‐McGregor SM. 1995, School breakfast improves verbal fluency in undernourished Jamaican children, Journal of Nutrition, 125 (4): 894‐900.
18 Kleinman R.E, Hall S, Green H, Korzec‐Ramirez D, Pattonb K, Pagano ME & Murphy JM. 2002, Diet, breakfast, and academic performance in children", Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 46 (suppl 1):24-30.
