ArticleFrontiers in human neuroscience2013
The effects of breakfast on behavior and academic performance in children and adolescents.
Article in Frontiers in human neuroscience, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
103 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Associations between exposure to nutrition, WASH interventions and children's academic performance in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Ready-to-eat cereal and milk for breakfast compared with no breakfast has a positive acute effect on cognitive function and subjective state in 11-13-year-olds: a school-based, randomised, controlled, parallel groups trial.European journal of nutrition · 2021Trial
- Breakfast Is Brain Food? The Effect on Grade Point Average of a Rural Group Randomized Program to Promote School Breakfast.The Journal of school health · 2019Trial
- Effect of Sugar versus Mixed Breakfast on Metabolic and Neurofunctional Responses in Healthy Individuals.Journal of diabetes research · 2017Trial
- Alternative Breakfast Service Models Are Associated With Greater Student School Breakfast Participation: Evidence From Middle and High School Students Across 8 States.The Journal of school health · 2026Article
- Article
- Integrating Mediterranean Diet Education and Sustainability in Primary Schools: A Two-Season Community-Based Intervention in Portugal.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Screen time patterns and cognitive screening outcomes (MoCA-Ina) in adolescents: a cross-sectional study.BMC neurology · 2026Observational
- Article
- Breaking down breakfast: the relationship between morning meals and learning difficulties in adolescents.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Lifestyle behaviors during exam periods and their association with academic performance among Palestinian medical students: a cross-sectional study.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Article
- Breakfast Consumption and Its Association With Mental Health Assessed by PSS-10, GAD-7, and PHQ-9 and Academic Performance Among University Students in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Ending universal school meals: student perspectives on how policy reversal shapes hunger, stigma, and learning.Health affairs scholar · 2026Article
- Pupils' Acceptance and Plate Waste of Sorghum-Based Breakfasts in South African School Feeding Programmes: A Mixed-Methods Study Across Five Provinces.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Current status and related factors of breakfast skipping among adolescents aged 12-15 years in Shandong Province, China: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Policy absence and school meal provision in Türkiye: a structured narrative review and policy analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Key factors advancing food education in primary schools - Perspectives of headteachers and education directors.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- Role of Nutrition in Cognitive Development and Academic Performance During Adolescence: A Comprehensive Review.Cureus · 2025Review
- Adolescent and Parental Perspectives of Food Insecurity at Home and at School Among Adolescents Attending Junior High Schools in Cape Coast, Ghana.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
43 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Breakfast consumption is associated with positive outcomes for diet quality, micronutrient intake, weight status and lifestyle factors. Breakfast has been suggested to positively affect learning in children in terms of behavior, cognitive, and school performance. However, these assertions are largely based on evidence which demonstrates acute effects of breakfast on cognitive performance. Less research which examines the effects of breakfast on the ecologically valid outcomes of academic performance or in-class behavior is available. The literature was searched for articles published between 1950-2013 indexed in Ovid MEDLINE, Pubmed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE databases, and PsychINFO. Thirty-six articles examining the effects of breakfast on in-class behavior and academic performance in children and adolescents were included. The effects of breakfast in different populations were considered, including undernourished or well-nourished children and adolescents from differing socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. The habitual and acute effects of breakfast and the effects of school breakfast programs (SBPs) were considered. The evidence indicated a mainly positive effect of breakfast on on-task behavior in the classroom. There was suggestive evidence that habitual breakfast (frequency and quality) and SBPs have a positive effect on children's academic performance with clearest effects on mathematic and arithmetic grades in undernourished children. Increased frequency of habitual breakfast was consistently positively associated with academic performance. Some evidence suggested that quality of habitual breakfast, in terms of providing a greater variety of food groups and adequate energy, was positively related to school performance. However, these associations can be attributed, in part, to confounders such as SES and to methodological weaknesses such as the subjective nature of the observations of behavior in class.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.