All of us have heard this, and now there is research supporting the premise that breakfast is THE most important meal of the day. A nutritious breakfast provides approximately one-fourth of the recommended dietary allowances (RDA) for key nutrients such as protein, vitamin A, vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc. In addition, educators agree that hungry or undernourished children tend to be irritable, apathetic and lethargic, conditions that interfere with learning. Children's hunger has both physical and psychosocial symptoms. Physical consequences of hunger include stomach pain, headache, muscle fatigue, and sleepiness. Psychosocial complaints such as anxiety, nervousness, anger, fidgety, hostility, indecisiveness, confusion, and unhappiness are also common.
In a 1990 Carnegie Foundation study, more than half of the teachers surveyed report that poor nourishment among students is a problem at their school. Recent research has shown that children who skip breakfast have trouble concentrating at school and become inattentive and restless by late morning. A 1989 Tufts University study found that children who eat school breakfast perform better on standardized tests and are late or absent from school less often than children who do not eat breakfast at school. In addition, a 1996 Hebrew University study found that children who eat breakfast at school -- closer to class and test-taking time -- perform better on standardized tests than those who skip breakfast or eat at home much earlier. Other studies in children have shown that consumption of a nutritious breakfast results in:
• improved attention in late morning task performance
• quicker and more accurate retrieval of information (i.e. working memory),
• fewer errors made in problem solving activities, and
• better concentration and ability to perform complex tasks.
Nutritionally, children who eat breakfast are much better off than those who skip it. Studies have shown that children who eat breakfast have higher 24 hour nutrient intakes when compared to those who skip breakfast. Breakfast skippers do not make up for the lost nutrients later in the day, and average less than 2/3 of the RDA for many nutrients.
