Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T10:40:08.207Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Breakfast and performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2001

Santiago Cueto
Santiago Cueto*
Affiliation:
Group of Analysis for Development (GRADE), Av. Del Ejército 1870, San Isidro, Lima, Peru
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Evidence suggests that the effect of fasting on performance is not uniform, but it is dependent on the basal nutritional status of the subject. Breakfast consumption has a short-term effect in improving selected learning skills, especially work memory. School breakfast programmes have a positive effect on the nutritional status of children, on school attendance and probably on dropout rates. The effect of breakfast consumption on school performance depends on the interaction between the programme, student characteristics (malnutrition) and school organisation. Unless the school setting guarantees a minimum quality standard, the benefits of breakfast consumption will not be evident in performance in complex areas like language or maths.

Keywords

BreakfastChildrenSchool performanceLearning skillsMalnutritionGrowth
Type
Breakfast and dietary balance: the enKid Study
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 4 , Issue 6a , December 2001 , pp. 1429 - 1431
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2001

References

1 Pollitt, E, Mathews, R. Breakfast and cognition: an integrative summary. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1998; 67(Suppl.):804S–13S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2 Pollitt, E, Leibel, R, Greenfield, D. Breakfast and cognition. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1981; 34:1526–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3 Pollitt, E, Lewis, N, Garza, C, Shulman, R. Fasting and cognitive function. J. Psych. Res. 1982; 17(2):169–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4 Smith, A. Meals, mood and mental performance. Br. Food J. 1993; 95(9):16–8.10.1108/00070709310045022CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5 Simeon, D, Grantham-McGregor, S. Effects of missing breakfast on the cognitive functions of school children of differing nutritional status. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1989; 49:646–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6 Cueto, S, Jacoby, E, Pollitt, E. Breakfast prevents delays of attention and memory functions among nutritionally at-risk boys. J. Appl. Develop. Psych. 1998; 19(2):219–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7 Pollitt, E, Jacoby, E, Cueto, S. Evaluation of a school breakfast program in Peru. In: Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), ed. Nutrition, Health and Child Development. Scientific Publication No. 566. Washington, DC: PAHO–University of West Indies–World Bank, 1998;119–27.Google Scholar
8 Benton, D, Parker, P. Breakfast, blood glucose and cognition. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1998; 67(Suppl.):772S–8S.10.1093/ajcn/67.4.772SCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9 Pollitt, E, Jacoby, E, Cueto, S. Desayuno Escolar y Rendimiento. Lima: Apoyo, 1996.Google Scholar
10 Jacoby, E, Cueto, S, Pollitt, E. Benefits of a school breakfast programme among Andean children in Huaraz (Peru). Food Nutr. Bull. 1996; 17(1):54–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11 Mathews, R. Importance of breakfast to cognitive performance and health. Perspectives Appl. Nutr. 1996; 3(3):202–12.Google Scholar
12 Cueto, S, Chinen, M, Montes, I, Andrade, F, Staeheli, M. Educational impact of a school breakfast program in rural Peru. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association Conference, New Orleans, LA, 24-28 April 2000.Google Scholar
13 Powell, C, Walker, S, Chang, S, McGregor, S. Nutrition and education: a randomized trial of the effects of breakfast in rural primary school children. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1989; 49:646–53.Google Scholar
14 Murphy, J, Pagano, M, Nachmani, J, Sperling, P, Kane, S, Kleinman, R. The relationship of school breakfast to psychosocial and academic functioning. Arch. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med. 1998; 152(9):899–908.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15 Grantham-McGregor, S, Chang, S, Walker, S, Powell, C. School feeding studies in Jamaica. In: Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), ed. Nutrition, Health and Child Development. Scientific Publication No. 566. Washington, DC: PAHO–University of West Indies–World Bank, 1998;104–18.Google Scholar