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Appetite

Volume 49, Issue 1, July 2007, Pages 240-244
Appetite

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A low glycaemic index breakfast cereal preferentially prevents children's cognitive performance from declining throughout the morning

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2006.06.009Get rights and content

Abstract

This study investigated whether the glycaemic index (GI) of breakfast cereal differentially affects children's attention and memory. Using a balanced cross-over design, on two consecutive mornings 64 children aged 6–11 years were given a high GI cereal and a low GI cereal in a counterbalanced order. They performed a series of computerised tests of attention and memory, once prior to breakfast and three times following breakfast at hourly intervals. The results indicate that children's performance declines throughout the morning and that this decline can be significantly reduced following the intake of a low GI cereal as compared with a high GI cereal on measures of accuracy of attention (M=−6.742 and −13.510, respectively, p<0.05) and secondary memory (M=−30.675 and −47.183, respectively, p<0.05).

Introduction

A number of studies have examined the effects of breakfast consumption on cognitive performance in children (for review, see Rampersaud, Pereira, Girard, Adams, & Metzl, 2005). As a general rule, these studies have shown a benefit in performance following breakfast consumption compared with breakfast omission. Recently, Wesnes, Pincock, Richardson, Helm, and Hails (2003) assessed cognitive performance in 9–16-year-old children following breakfast. In this cross-over study, the cognitive effects of two separate ready-to-eat cereals, a glucose drink and a no-breakfast condition were observed at hourly intervals during the morning. Both types of cereal benefited performance on attention and memory tasks compared with the no-breakfast and the glucose conditions.

Most breakfast studies have examined the effects of breakfast consumption compared with breakfast omission (e.g. Benton & Sargent, 1992). Surprisingly little research has addressed the cognitive consequences of different breakfast types. Glycaemic index (GI) is a concept that has received increased attention in nutrition, including in relation to cognitive performance. A food's GI is a measure of the rate at which it increases and maintains blood glucose levels. Shortly after intake of a high GI food there is a relatively rapid rise in blood glucose levels followed by a corresponding rapid decrease; whereas after the intake of a low GI food there is a relatively smaller rise in blood glucose followed by a more stable blood glucose concentration. It has been extensively investigated and established that increased blood glucose levels have positive effects on cognitive performance (e.g. Martin & Benton, 1999; Scholey, Harper, & Kennedy, 2001; Sünram-Lea, Foster, Durlach, & Perez, 2002). Claims made from studies on GI suggest that a low GI food is more beneficial to cognitive performance than a high GI food (e.g. Benton et al., 2003). Glucose is usually the reference treatment used for calculating the GI of food. The inclusion of the glucose drink condition in Wesnes et al.'s (2003) study fortuitously provided the opportunity to assess the effects of breakfasts of differing GI. Although no statistical post-hoc comparisons were made, the results demonstrated a decline in performance on attention and memory after consumption of the high GI glucose drink. This decline was significantly reduced after the consumption of both of the cereals, which had similar but lower GIs than the glucose. One possible interpretation of these findings is that the larger decline in performance associated with the glucose drink is related to the marked fluctuations that characterise high GI foods, whilst the smaller decline in performance following the comparatively lower GI cereals might reflect more constant levels of blood glucose throughout the morning.

Only one previous study has directly investigated the effect of breakfasts of differing GIs on cognitive processes in children (Mahoney, Taylor, Kanarek, & Samuel, 2005). In this cross-over study, 30 children aged 6–11 years completed a battery of cognitive tests after the consumption of either a low GI breakfast (oatmeal), a high GI breakfast (ready-to-eat cereal) or no breakfast. Breakfast was consumed between 8:15 and 8:30 am and testing took place an hour later from 9:30 to 10:30 am. When comparing the high and low GI breakfasts, Mahoney et al. found that girls but not boys performed better on a short-term memory task after the consumption of the low GI breakfast and that all the younger children (6–8 years) additionally performed better on an auditory attention task after the low GI breakfast.

Whilst there is general agreement in the literature that breakfast can have a positive effect on cognitive performance when compared with having no breakfast it is, however, important that the field further investigates the effects of different nutritional interventions. Although Wesnes et al. (2003) found differences in performance between the glucose condition and the cereal conditions, the level of glucose used in this study (38.3 g) was rather high for a young cohort and the reduced cognitive performance observed could have been due to retarding gastric emptying or induced feelings of bloatedness. The aim of the current study is to extend and partially replicate both Wesnes et al.'s and Mahoney et al.'s studies by directly comparing children's attention and memory performance at hourly intervals throughout the morning after the consumption of two popular UK breakfast cereals of differing GI.

Section snippets

Participants

Sixty-four children aged between 6 and 11 years (mean age 9:3, range 6:8–11:7) were recruited from an area in the North East of England encompassing schools from a range of socio-economic areas. There were 26 boys (mean BMI 17.1) and 38 girls (mean BMI 17.9).

Procedure

The role of GI on children's cognitive performance was investigated by providing children with the high GI cereal Coco Pops and the low GI cereal All Bran on two consecutive days, with order of presentation counterbalanced across groups.

Results

Mean change from baseline scores for each condition at each assessment time are presented in Table 2. For each of the five cognitive measures change from baseline scores were analysed by a three-way mixed ANOVA (assessment time×GI×gender) with repeated measures on the first two factors. Gender was included as a factor to allow direct comparison to the data of Mahoney et al. (2005).

Discussion

Consistent with previous research findings, the results from the present study suggest that a low GI breakfast cereal may prevent children's performance from declining throughout the morning on certain measures of attention and memory. Following the consumption of a low GI breakfast cereal compared with a high GI breakfast cereal, there was significantly less decline in performance on accuracy of attention and secondary memory throughout the morning. These findings are comparable to the

Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by Cambridge Laboratories. The authors would also like to thank the staff and pupils from the following schools: Coundon Primary, Coxhoe Primary, Dean Bank Primary, Ferryhill Station Primary, High Coniscliffe CE Primary, Ludworth Primary, Neville's Cross Primary, New Brancepeth Primary, St. Cuthbert's RCVA Primary, St. Godrick's RCVA Primary and St. Michael's RCVA Primary.

References (14)

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