Metabolic Responses to Breakfast in Adolescent Girls

University of Bedfordshire

Status: Completed

Conditions: Postprandial Hyperglycemia

Treatments: Other: Breakfast consumption; Other: Breakfast Omission

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04476693

UBedfordshire

Details and patient eligibility

About

Breakfast consumption (BC) is frequently associated with a healthy lifestyle, healthy body weight and favourable cardiometabolic health. Research from studies in adults suggests that breakfast skipping causes elevated plasma glucose and insulin concentrations after lunch. However, there is currently no evidence to suggest a similar metabolic response in adolescent girls, a population that frequently skips breakfast. The primary purpose of this study is to examine the effects of BC versus breakfast omission (BO) on metabolic responses after lunch in healthy adolescent girls.

Full description

Breakfast consumption (BC) is habitually associated with a healthy lifestyle (e.g., diet and physical activity), reduced adiposity and favourable cardiometabolic health profiles in children, adolescents and adults. Experimental research in adults has shown that breakfast consumption reduces the glycaemic and insulinemic response to lunch when compared with breakfast omission; this has been termed 'the second meal effect'. Further, breakfast consumption may improve exercise performance and increase free-living physical activity energy expenditure in adults. Understanding the postprandial metabolic responses to BC and breakfast omission (BO) in adolescent girls is particularly important, as this population frequently skips breakfast and have low physical activity levels. Yet, adolescent girls may respond differently to adults due to their distinct metabolic profiles, and past research has not targeted this population. The primary aim of this research is to examine whether BC versus BO affects postprandial glycaemic and insulinemic responses to lunch in adolescent girls. Secondly, it aims to examine the lipaemic and substrate oxidation responses during rest, substrate oxidation during an exercise bout performed later in the day, and physical activity enjoyment during the exercise bout.

Enrollment: 18 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 11 to 14 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Aged 11 to 14 years old
2. Female
3. Healthy weight Body Mass Index centile (between the 3rd and 91st centile - Cole et al 2000)

Exclusion criteria

1. Allergies to the breakfast and lunch ingredients
2. Fitted with a pacemaker
3. Unable to walk
4. Health related issues that could be affected by participation in the study (e.g., uncontrolled exercise-induced asthma, diabetes, epilepsy)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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18 participants in 2 patient groups

Breakfast Consumption (BC)

Experimental group

Description:

The consumption of a standardised breakfast followed by a standardised lunch 3-h after the last mouthful of breakfast meal. All the ingredients of the breakfast and lunch provided will be weighed, with the portion sizes calculated based on individual resting metabolic rate (RMR). The participants were instructed to consume the meals provided within 15 min. A minimum of seven days washout period will be provided to avoid carry-over effects between conditions. The standardised lunch will consist of white bread without crust (Tesco), margarine 'Butter Me Up Spread' (Tesco), strawberry jam (Tesco), salted crisps (Walkers) and sparkling glucose drink (Lucozade Energy Original). This carbohydrate-rich high glycameic index lunch was designed to trigger quick and exaggerated glucose and insulin response.

Treatment:

Other: Breakfast consumption

Breakfast omission (BO)

Experimental group

Description:

Participant will consume water, the individual volume of which was calculated based on the liquid content of the breakfast. A standardised lunch will be consumed 3-h after the last mouthful of water. All the ingredients of the breakfast and lunch provided were weighed, with the portion sizes calculated based on individual resting metabolic rate (RMR). The participants were instructed to consume the meals provided within 15 min. A minimum of seven days washout period was provided to avoid carry-over effects between conditions. The standardised lunch consists of white bread without crust (Tesco), margarine 'Butter Me Up Spread' (Tesco), strawberry jam (Tesco), salted crisps (Walkers) and sparkling glucose drink (Lucozade Energy Original). This carbohydrate-rich high glycameic index lunch was designed to trigger quick and exaggerated glucose and insulin response.

Treatment:

Other: Breakfast Omission