Acute Effects of Breakfast Compared With No Breakfast on Cognitive Function and Subjective State in 11-13 Year Old Children

University of Leeds

Status: Completed

Conditions: Healthy

Treatments: Dietary Supplement: Breakfast: ready-to-eat-cereal and milk

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; Industry

Identifiers

NCT03979027

RTECCOG1113

Details and patient eligibility

About

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.

Full 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

Enrollment: 234 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 11 to 13 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

The inclusion criteria were as follows: aged 11-13 years, willingness to consume RTEC with semi-skimmed cow's milk during the study, ability to follow verbal and written instructions in English, and normal vision with appropriate corrective lenses if required. The exclusion criteria were as follows: inability to understand the objective of the cognitive tests or carry out the tests, behavioural difficulties or attention disorders, administration of any psychotropic medication in the month prior to testing or during testing, food allergies or intolerances which prevent consumption of RTEC and milk (e.g. coeliac, lactose intolerance), acute illness or feeling unwell within the week prior to testing or during testing, and hearing impairment that precluded the normal use of headphones.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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234 participants in 2 patient groups

No Breakfast

No Intervention group

Description:

Fasting. Ad libitum water intake permitted.

Breakfast

Experimental group

Description:

Ad libitum intake of ready-to-eat-cereal with milk. Participants were given a choice of four commercially available RTECs with 1.8% fat cow's milk. Ad libitum water intake was also permitted. The four ready-to-eat-cereals were corn flakes, toasted rice, shredded whole wheat pieces with a sugar topping, and wheat, corn and oat shapes.

Treatment:

Dietary Supplement: Breakfast: ready-to-eat-cereal and milk