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Breakfast and performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2001

Santiago Cueto
Santiago Cueto*
Affiliation:
Group of Analysis for Development (GRADE), Av. Del Ejército 1870, San Isidro, Lima, Peru
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected]
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Abstract

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Evidence suggests that the effect of fasting on performance is not uniform, but it is dependent on the basal nutritional status of the subject. Breakfast consumption has a short-term effect in improving selected learning skills, especially work memory. School breakfast programmes have a positive effect on the nutritional status of children, on school attendance and probably on dropout rates. The effect of breakfast consumption on school performance depends on the interaction between the programme, student characteristics (malnutrition) and school organisation. Unless the school setting guarantees a minimum quality standard, the benefits of breakfast consumption will not be evident in performance in complex areas like language or maths.

Keywords

BreakfastChildrenSchool performanceLearning skillsMalnutritionGrowth
Type
Breakfast and dietary balance: the enKid Study
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 4 , Issue 6a , December 2001 , pp. 1429 - 1431
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2001

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