Author
 |
Dykman, Roscoe |
|
PIVIK, R - ACNC |
|
Submitted to: Pediatric Academic Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 2/27/2002 Publication Date: 4/1/2002 Citation: DYKMAN, R., PIVIK, R.T. EFFECTS OF A SCHOOL BREAKFAST ON MENTAL ARITHMETIC TASK PERFORMANCE. Pediatric Academic Society. 2002. v. 51. p. 453. Abstract No. 29A. Interpretive Summary: Eating breakfast after overnight fasting is considered important for providing for learning, but the specific actions of breakfast on the ability of children to perform cognitive functions have not been well defined. We have been interested in learning how diet affects cognitive function and in determining what types of diets promote better learning and identifying the dietary factors responsible and their mechanisms of action. This study compared the effects of eating or skipping breakfast on performance of a mental arithmetic task in healthy 8-11 year old children. Eating breakfast did not make a difference in number of correct responses to problem sets, but was associated with relatively faster response times and therefore with improved information processing. This provides a central nervous system function we can later study in more detail in children Technical Abstract: Background: Nutritional state is known to affect cognitive processes, and eating breakfast after overnight fasting is therefore considered important for facilitating learning processes in school children. Objective: The present investigation examined this premise as it relates to processes involved in performing a mental arithmetic task by comparing the effects of eating or skipping breakfast on task performance. Design/Methods: Healthy children (8-11 yrs. Old; IQ >80) were tested the morning following overnight fasting (after 9:00 p.m.), first while fasted, then after eating a breakfast based on School Breakfast Program requirements (N=11, 4 males) or while continuing to fast (n=11, 3 males). Measure of sleep (overnight actigraphy) and blood glucose (finger sticks before testing sessions) were also obtained. Problems (n=150; addition or subtraction of 1-2 digit integers) followed by 3 possible answers (simultaneously presented) were sequentially displayed on a monitor (.2 sec each). Subjects responded with a button press to the answer of their choice. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA with post-hoc t-tests where appropriate. Results: Groups were similar in sleep amount and efficiency, and compared with fasting subjects those receiving breakfast showed a significant increase in blood glucose level (p<001). The groups did not differ significantly in the number of correct responses across conditions or in response time (RT) during the initial test period when both were fasting. Both groups had longer RTs associated with incorrect relative to correct answers, and both groups responded more quickly in the second (continued fasting or after breakfast) relative to the first (fasting) test period. Between-group differences were not statistically significant, but fed subjects had decreases in mean RTs were approximately twice those of the fasting group (53 vs 29 msec decrements associated with correct responses and 168 vs 74 msec decrements with incorrect responses for fed and fasting groups, respectively). Conclusions: The second test period decrease in RTs for both groups may reflect a learning effect since the task was identical during both test periods. The relatively greater RT reductions in the fed group suggest that eating breakfast may enhance information processing and/or facilitate response time, but these findings need to be confirmed and extended in a larger study population. |
