Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 21, 2026

Breakfast Habits among Schoolchildren in the City of Uruguaiana, Brazil
Published on: July 29, 2020
The Effects of Breakfast and Breakfast Composition on Cognition in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review
Katie Adolphus1, Clare L Lawton2, Claire L Champ2
1Human Appetite Research Unit, School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom pskad@leeds.ac.uk.
Abstract:
Breakfast is thought to be beneficial for cognitive and academic performance in school children. However, breakfast is the most frequently skipped meal, especially among adolescents. The aim of the current article was to systematically review the evidence from intervention studies for the effects of breakfast on cognitive performance in children and adolescents. The effects of breakfast were evaluated by cognitive domain and breakfast manipulation. A total of 45 studies reported in 43 articles were included in the review. Most studies considered the acute effect of a single breakfast (n = 34). The acute studies looked at breakfast compared with no breakfast (n = 24) and/or comparisons of breakfast type (n = 15). The effects of chronic school breakfast program interventions were evaluated in 11 studies. The findings suggest that breakfast consumption relative to fasting has a short-term (same morning) positive domain-specific effect on cognition. Tasks requiring attention, executive function, and memory were facilitated more reliably by breakfast consumption relative to fasting, with effects more apparent in undernourished children. Firm conclusions cannot be made about the acute effects of breakfast composition and the effects of chronic breakfast interventions because there are too few studies and these largely report inconsistent findings. This review also highlights methodologic limitations of the existing research. These include a lack of research on adolescents, few naturalistic breakfast manipulations or testing environments, small samples, and insensitive cognitive tests.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Information Processing Approach
Revisionist Views of Adolescent and Adult Cognition
Environmental Influences on Intelligence
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and Symptoms
To diagnose ADHD, symptoms must manifest before age 12 and be evident across multiple settings....
Biological Influences on Intelligence

