The Effects of Breakfast on Neuropsychological Functioning
Completed · Not applicable
Conditions studied: Neuropsychology
In brief
This study is designed to examine healthy children who skip breakfast and the effects of fasting on their neuropsychological functioning and the potential benefits that a Balanced Breakfast may have on their learning abilities. It is expected that this study will provide new knowledge on how prolonged periods of 8 or more hours without food affect neurocognitive processes and thus learning how specific meals following this period of fasting, which most children experience, change those processes, potentially for the better. The hypotheses for this study are: 1. Children who consume breakfast will demonstrate significantly higher levels of attention, greater concentration, and diminished impulsivity compared to children who do not consume breakfast. 2. Children who consume breakfast will demonstrate a significantly quicker reaction time and increased accuracy in correctly identifying target stimuli from an array compared to children who do not consume breakfast. 3. Children who consume breakfast will demonstrate increased freedom from distractibility and enhanced short-term memory compared to children who do not consume breakfast. 4. Children who consume breakfast will demonstrate increased cognitive processing speed compared to children who do not consume breakfast. 5. Children who consume breakfast will have improved verbal learning compared to children who do not consume breakfast. 6. Children who consume breakfast will have improved visual memory compared to children who do not consume breakfast.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT01943604
- Run by
- Baylor College of Medicine
- People needed
- 195
- Starts
- 2012-01-01
- Expected to finish
- 2014-11-01
- Last updated by the study team
- 2015-04-29
Who can join
Age: 8 and older, up to 10. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.
You may qualify if…
- Children 8-10 years of age will be recruited from Houston, Texas
- Low socio-economic (SES) children and middle income children (defined as those who receive "free" and "reduced fee" lunches from the respective schools within the district)
You may not qualify if…
- Children with weights below the 10th percentile and above the 90th percentile will be excluded
- Children will be examined by a trained nurse to rule out color blindness
- Children with a history of neurological, neurodevelopmental, developmental learning disabilities, sensory impairments, mood disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, acute or chronic medical conditions, reported lactose intolerance, veganism, asthma, tree nut and/or peanut allergy, anemia, pubescent, on prescription medications or a Tanner stage greater than 2 will be excluded from the study
- Subjects who are unwilling to consume Nutella or have dietary restrictions that would prevent them from consuming the prepared meals will not be included
Where it is running
- Baylor College of Medicine — Houston, Texas, United States
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
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