Effects of lunch on children’s short-term cognitive functioning: a randomized crossover study

Müller, Katrin; Libuda, Lars; Gawehn, N; Drossard, Claudia; Bolzenius, K; Kunz, Clemens; Kersting, Mathilde

doi:10.1038/ejcn.2012.209

Cited by 16 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The present study revealed no evidence for a lunch-related improvement or decline of cognitive performance in schoolchildren in the early afternoon, about 90 min after finishing lunch. Although our previous studies CogniDo (11) and CogniDo PLUS (12) suggested slight improvements of single cognitive parameters shortly after lunch, the current study did not prove our hypothesis of potentially beneficial cognitive effects of lunch in the afternoon. Interestingly, the linear regression even indicated beneficial effects of lunch size as the individual change between lunch day and no lunch day decreased with larger lunch sizes for the parameter visual search letters.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…It was not possible to obtain this information because of organisational reasons, but this question would be interesting for future studies. In the earlier CogniDo study (11) (n 105), the participants made significantly more omission errors in the tonic alertness task on the no lunch day compared with the lunch day (P = 0•03). The CogniDo PLUS study (12) (n 195) suggested slightly lower levels of false alarms in the task regarding working memory updating when lunch was eaten compared with the test condition in which lunch was omitted (P = 0•01)that is, after eating lunch, children responded less frequently to non-targets, to which they should not have responded.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…To the best of our knowledge, there are only two cross-over, intervention trials from our group, which Abbreviations: CF, cognitive functions; CoCo, Cognition Intervention Study Dortmund Continued; L, lunch; NL, no lunch. provided first insights into the impact of school lunch on cognitive performance in children at the end of lunch break (CogniDo (11) , CogniDo PLUS (12) study). Both studies did not reveal negative effects of lunch on several parameters of cognitive functions (CF) (i.e.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lunch at school and children’s cognitive functioning in the early afternoon: results from the Cognition Intervention Study Dortmund Continued (CoCo)

Schröder

Müller

Falkenstein³

et al. 2016

Br J Nutr

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Studies about effects of school lunch on children's cognition are rare; two previous studies (CogniDo, CogniDo PLUS) generally found no negative effects of lunch on children's cognitive performance at the end of lunch break (i.e. 45 min after finishing lunch), but suggested potential beneficial effects for single parameters. Therefore, the present study investigated the hypothesis of potential positive effects of school lunch on cognitive performance at early afternoon (90 min after finishing lunch). A randomised, cross-over intervention trial was conducted at a comprehensive school with fifth and sixth grade students. Participants were randomised into two groups: On day 1, group 1 did not eat lunch, whereas group 2 received lunch ad libitum. On day 2 (1 week later), group 2 did not eat lunch and group 1 received lunch ad libitum. The cognitive parameters task switching, working memory updating and alertness were tested using a computerised test battery 90 min after finishing the meal. Of the 204 recruited children, fifty were excluded because of deviations from the study protocol or absence on one of the 2 test days, which resulted in 154 participants. Data showed no significant effects of lunch on task switching, working memory updating and alertness (P values between 0·07 and 0·79). The present study suggests that school lunch does not seem to have beneficial effects on children's cognitive functions regarding the conducted tests at early afternoon. Together with our previous studies, we conclude that school lunch in general has no negative effects on cognitive performance in children. However, beneficial effects seem to be restricted to a relatively short time period after eating lunch. Considering the extension of all-day schools in Europe, knowledge about potential effects of school lunch on children's cognition is becoming increasingly important. Short-term lunch effects on cognition were primarily examined in adults with equivocal results, until now. Although sustained attention and the ability to discriminate have been shown to be worsened after lunch (1,2) , other cognitive aspects were improved (reading ability) (3) or did not change (selective attention) (4) . One explanation for negative lunch effects on cognitive performance is the post-lunch dip -a naturally occurring nadir in performance at midday. Studies in adults have shown that this dip is worsened by lunch (5,1) . Therefore, it could be hypothesised that skipping lunch could result in an alleviation or prevention of this post-lunch dip. However, these results were obtained in adults and are not necessarily transferable to children due to constitutional and metabolic differences between children and adults (e.g. still rapid brain growth, high metabolic rate in children). Until now, studies in children about the effects of meals on cognition have mainly concentrated on breakfast (6) . A body of research work has shown short-term benefits for cognitive performance when children eat breakfast instead of skipping it (6) . However, other s...

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lunch at school and children’s cognitive functioning in the early afternoon: results from the Cognition Intervention Study Dortmund Continued (CoCo)

Schröder

Müller

Falkenstein³

et al. 2016

Br J Nutr

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“…The study design was integrated in the regular school-day routine and corresponded to the study schedule of the previous crossover study CogniDo 2 After completing these tests participants who had no lunch at the regular time received their lunch (14:00 p.m.).…”

Section: Study Schedulementioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term effects of lunch on children's executive cognitive functioning: The randomized crossover Cognition Intervention Study Dortmund PLUS (CogniDo PLUS)

Schröder

Müller

Falkenstein³

et al. 2015

Physiology & Behavior

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“…However, not all children eat breakfast and even if breakfast is consumed, the positive effects may not last, with a Swedish study reporting that 80% of schoolchildren were hungry an hour before lunch [8]. Although the consumption of a mid-morning snack may maintain or improve attention and academic performance throughout the morning, literature regarding the impact of snacks on cognition is very limited [9] and the meal effect may be different depending on whether a nightly rest or a working phase took place beforehand [10]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodological considerations in a pilot study on the effects of a berry enriched smoothie on children’s performance in school

Rosander

Rumpunen

Olsson

et al. 2017

Food & Nutrition Research

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Berries contain bioactive compounds that may affect children’s cognitive function positively, while hunger and thirst during lessons before lunch affect academic performance negatively. This pilot study addresses methodological challenges in studying if a berry smoothie, offered to schoolchildren as a mid-morning beverage, affects academic performance.The objective was to investigate if a cross-over design can be used to study these effects in a school setting.Therefore, in order to investigate assay sensitivity, 236 Swedish children aged 10–12 years were administered either a berry smoothie (active) or a fruit-based control beverage after their mid-morning break. Both beverages provided 5% of child daily energy intake. In total, 91% of participants completed the study. Academic performance was assessed using the d2 test of attention. Statistical analyses were performed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test in StatXact v 10.3.The results showed that the children consumed less of the active berry smoothie than the control (154 g vs. 246 g). Both beverages increased attention span and concentration significantly (p = 0.000). However, as there was no significant difference (p = 0.938) in the magnitude of this effect between the active and control beverages, the assay sensitivity of the study design was not proven. The effect of the beverages on academic performance was attributed the supplementation of water and energy.Despite careful design, the active smoothie was less accepted than the control. This could be explained by un-familiar sensory characteristics and peer influence, stressing the importance of sensory similarity and challenges to perform a study in school settings. The employed cross-over design did not reveal any effects of bioactive compound consumption on academic performance. In future studies, the experimental set up should be modified or replaced by e.g. the parallel study design, in order to provide conclusive results.

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Effects of lunch on children’s short-term cognitive functioning: a randomized crossover study

Abstract: In the first study on this topic lunch did not have relevant effects on children's cognitive functioning in the early afternoon. Future research needs to be done to figure out potential methodical and physiological explanations.

Cited by 16 publications

References 28 publications

Lunch at school and children’s cognitive functioning in the early afternoon: results from the Cognition Intervention Study Dortmund Continued (CoCo)

Lunch at school and children’s cognitive functioning in the early afternoon: results from the Cognition Intervention Study Dortmund Continued (CoCo)

Short-term effects of lunch on children's executive cognitive functioning: The randomized crossover Cognition Intervention Study Dortmund PLUS (CogniDo PLUS)

Methodological considerations in a pilot study on the effects of a berry enriched smoothie on children’s performance in school

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