We’ve all heard it before: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Personally, breakfast has always been my least favorite meal of the day – I dislike eggs, cereal, bagels (for the most part), and fruit only fills me up for so long. So, after years of them drilling the importance of breakfast into my head, I decided to actually investigate the research behind it.
Bplans
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that eating breakfast positively effects cognitive performance. However, chance is always still a factor to be discussed, as well as null hypothesis (or that there is no correlation between eating breakfast and brain performance).
Science Fair Projects
About the study
This is a widely known and studied concept, so the studies you come across are endless. I stumbled upon a study conducted by David P. Wyon , National Institutional of Occupations Health, Denmark, and colleagues. In this experimental study, they focused primarily on the energy intake at breakfast, meaning plentiful breakfasts would impact the children’s energy performance during the school day.
How the study was conducted
To start, Wyon and colleagues reached out to parents of 10 year-olds across five schools, asking if they would change their child’s breakfast routine for a period of 4 days. After responses, they sent out breakfasts to 195 families; however, the breakfast varied in energy (high or low). The breakfasts were randomly assigned to the children throughout the duration of the experiment. The children then underwent performance tests, to see how the energy at breakfast effects their performance throughout the rest of the day. Side note: teachers conducting the tests were blind to the procedure details (aka which children had been given what breakfast).
The results
Children that received 20% more energy packed in her breakfasts than recommended tested drastically better physically and creatively, contrary to the children in which received breakfasts which 10% less energy recommended. The children receiving the higher energy breakfasts also reported less issues (i.e. fatigue, hunger, etc.).
Other Studies
I also came across one conducted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. In this study, they looked at the correlation between eating breakfast and IQ scores. In this study, they took 1,269 six year-olds in China, and compared children who ate breakfast regularly vs those who did not. Those who did not eat breakfast scores 4.6 points lower on IQ tests than those who did. Granted, these are 6 year olds we’re talking about here, so there could be a ton of third confounding variables that the study did not explore. However, the point of experimenting on 6 year-olds, was because childhood is a crucial period to learn habitual routines. These routines learned at a young age can carry into teenage years and even into adulthood, and can have other implications along the way. So maybe if my mom had force fed me breakfast as a child I’d have a higher IQ now… Thanks, mom.
What can we do with this information?
In the studies above, each result demonstrates the importance of a hearty breakfast in the morning. However, chance could still play a factor in these studies; however, many experiments have come to similar conclusions, making it very unlikely. So, nothing new or fascinating here in this blog post. Sorry to disappoint, the doctors were right. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I guess I have to start liking eggs now.
Memes Happen
Sources
Wyon, David P., Lillemor Abrahamsson, Marja Jartelius, and Red J. Fletcher. “An Experimental Study of the Effects of Energy Intake at …” Taylor & Francis Online. N.p., 6 July 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. “Can breakfast make kids smarter?.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 February 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130205143334.htm>.
I often skip breakfast simply because I am lazy in the mornings many days. Obviously I knew how important breakfast is, but I never really knew it had a profound impact on your IQ. I feel after reading this article it is imperative for me to start eating breakfast on a daily basis. “http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2013/07/23/why-is-skipping-breakfast-so-bad-for-our-heart-health/#747cb06158b1”>Here are some staggering statistics that add on to the disadvantages of not eating breakfast along with a lower IQ.
I often skip breakfast simply because I am lazy in the mornings many days. Obviously I knew how important breakfast is, but I never really knew it had a profound impact on your IQ. I feel after reading this article it is imperative for me to start eating breakfast on a daily basis. “http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2013/07/23/why-is-skipping-breakfast-so-bad-for-our-heart-health/#747cb06158b1”>Here are some staggering statistics that add on to the disadvantages of not eating breakfast along with a lower IQ.
Interesting post. There is one issue with the study that i believe can be very effective, what the participants had for breakfast. Is there a significance in if i eat cereal vs eggs vs old pizza, or is it just the fact that breakfast was eaten at all. I do not take any chances whenever i have an exam or something important to do I will always eat breakfast, the superstisious person in me usually makes it the same thing every time .
This article is solid because it reinforces the common thought that a healthy breakfast leads to success. I think that this is widely accepted and the studies that you provided have the stats to back it up. This study did make me wonder how breakfast affects people of different age groups. The study only tests kids, but what about teens and adults? (https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/The-Case-for-Eating-Breakfast.aspx) claims that teenagers are the most common culprits of skipping breakfast. They blame a later bed time and a busier schedule on this trend. Although I couldn’t find any studies that specifically look for differences in breakfasts effect per age group, I am confident their is a correlation.
An experiment could be conducted where people of three age groups are separated. Similar to the study in this article, one group consumes breakfast while the other doesn’t. The differences in academic performance could then be compared between age groups to determine which age needs breakfast the most.
I like the topic because I think it is crucial to talk about the importance of eating a good breakfast in the morning. I am really confused by your analysis on the first study though. In that study the x- variable is the amount of energy in kids’ breakfasts. Shouldn’t the x-variable be about eating breakfast or not. Isn’t that what we are trying to manipulate? Because obviously if one food has more energy than the other, it will be better off for the kids. We aren’t trying to test how well these energy breakfasts work, we want to see whether having a breakfast in the first place is going to help ones performance in a day. If I could do something different to that study, I would find the kids who don’t eat breakfast to the kids that do. Maybe track how they are doing in class, or make their teachers give them special assignments to see how they are doing.
I enjoyed reading this blog! Aside from the fact that your content was relevant and interesting, I really liked the way you laid it out in organized questions. I had never been a breakfast girl until high school, where I felt like I needed the energy in the morning to truly be attentive in class. This habit has followed me through college as well, and I’m glad that it aligns with the scientific evidence that you have presented! In addition to simply energy, this WebMD article (http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/many-benefits-breakfast#1) outlines other benefits of a healthy breakfast. For example, eating a good breakfast can help maintain your weight because it starts your metabolism early.