Acute Effects of Breakfast Compared With No Breakfast on Cognitive Function and Subjective State in 11-13 Year Old Children: A School-based, Randomised, Controlled, Parallel Groups Trial

Brief Summary

Detailed Description

This study is a school-based, randomised, controlled, parallel groups trial to examine the acute effect of breakfast (ready-to-eat-cereal and milk) vs. no breakfast on cognitive function and subjective state in 11-13 year old adolescents. It was hypothesised that the consumption of breakfast will have a positive acute effect on cognitive performance and subjective state compared with breakfast omission in 11-13 year olds. The study sample consisted of males and females aged 11-13 years who were recruited to take part in the study from a UK secondary school. There were two conditions in this parallel groups study: Breakfast and No breakfast (fasting). The breakfast intervention consisted of ad libitum intake of ready-to-eat-cereal with milk. Cognitive function was assessed at baseline and +70 and +215 minutes post-intervention. The Cambridge Neuro-psychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB; Cambridge Cognition Ltd) was used to assess cognitive function. The battery included: Simple Reaction Time (SRT), 5-Choice Reaction Time (5-CRT), Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVIP), and Paired Associates Learning (PAL), which measured reaction time, visual-sustained attention, and visual-spatial memory respectively. Concomitant ratings of subjective mood, alertness, satiety, and motivation were taken throughout the morning using eight unipolar Visual Analogue Scales

Primary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes

• 5-Choice Reaction Time task performance(baseline, 70 minutes and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Subjective unipolar visual analogue scale ratings of motivation to try hard(baseline, 15 minutes, 70 minutes, and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Rapid Visual Information Processing task (RVIP) performance(baseline, 70 minutes and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Subjective unipolar visual analogue scale ratings of energy(baseline, 15 minutes, 70 minutes, and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Subjective unipolar visual analogue scale ratings of hunger(baseline, 15 minutes, 70 minutes, and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Subjective unipolar visual analogue scale ratings of cheerfulness(baseline, 15 minutes, 70 minutes, and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Subjective unipolar visual analogue scale ratings of performance on the cognitive test battery(baseline, 70 minutes, and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Simple Reaction Time task performance(baseline, 70 minutes and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Subjective unipolar visual analogue scale ratings of bad temperedness(baseline, 15 minutes, 70 minutes, and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Subjective unipolar visual analogue scale ratings of ease of distraction(baseline, 15 minutes, 70 minutes, and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Subjective unipolar visual analogue scale ratings of ease of focusing(baseline, 15 minutes, 70 minutes, and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Subjective unipolar visual analogue scale ratings of cognitive test battery difficulty(baseline, 70 minutes, and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Subjective unipolar visual analogue scale ratings of feeling of awake(baseline, 15 minutes, 70 minutes, and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Subjective unipolar visual analogue scale ratings of frustration during the cognitive test battery(baseline, 70 minutes, and 215 minutes post-intervention)
• Subjective unipolar visual analogue scale ratings of concentration during the cognitive test battery(baseline, 70 minutes, and 215 minutes post-intervention)