title: Breakfast consumption has no effect on neuropsychological functioning in children: a repeated-measures clinical trial.
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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Breakfast consumption had no short-term effect on neuropsychological functioning in healthy school-aged children. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01943604.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Psychology Section, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX;
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Iovino
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX;
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stuff
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX;
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX; and.
authors.forename: Christie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brewton
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX; and.
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dovi
authors.affiliation: MassGeneral Hospital for Children, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kleinman
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX; tnicklas@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Theresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nicklas
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D062408:Breakfast; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000009:adverse effects; D000072001:Diet, Healthy; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010290:Parents; D010349:Patient Compliance; D057566:Self Report; D013781:Texas; D014706:Verbal Learning
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: breakfast consumption; breakfast skipping; children; cognition; neuropsychological functioning