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Examine A healthy breakfast improves grades at school
Experts have long been recommending that children should have breakfast before school so that they can concentrate better in class. But it depends, above all, on what is taken as the first meal of the day. Scientists at Cardiff University in Wales have now found that only having a healthy breakfast has a positive impact on the children's performance.
Health experts advise against empty stomach at school
"You should have breakfast, otherwise you can not concentrate in school". With phrases like these, many parents appeal to their offspring in the morning, as it has now been proven that schoolchildren perform better when they have eaten. Now, a study from Cardiff University in Wales shows that what matters is what the children consume. Thus, only a healthy breakfast has a positive effect, unhealthy foods, however, had no effect.
A good breakfast improves the children's performance. Image: Monkey Business - fotolia Researchers evaluate data from 3,000 students
According to Cardiff University, Hannah Littlecott's team for the research project analyzed data from 5,000 nine- to eleven-year-old students from more than 100 schools. The young subjects had previously been asked to chronologically document everything they had consumed in the last 24 hours (including two breakfasts) on the day of the investigation. The information gathered was linked to the results of the Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs), which are learning surveys in which all ten to eleven-year-olds must attend in England and Wales. The students reported that they had taken the test six to 18 months after the data on eating habits were collected, and had been reviewed in English, math and science.
Nourishing breakfast has a positive effect
The authors found that those who had eaten at the beginning of the day were twice as likely to achieve better-than-average results in tests than those who had gone to school on an empty stomach , But as the researchers continue to report, it all depends on what was eaten. Therefore, only a healthy breakfast made of cereal products such as Muesli or bread as well as fruits and dairy products. For children who had eaten sweets or chips, however, there were no changes in the services provided.
Results confirm earlier studies
As Hannah Littlecott explained, so far there has been no clear evidence that a breakfast has a concrete impact on the academic outcomes. "This study provides the strongest evidence of a link between the nutrition of students and their academic performance - which has a significant impact on education and health policies," said the lead author, according to the University's announcement. The study would also confirm other scientific work which has shown that e.g. a low glycemic index breakfast has a positive effect on cognitive function, health, attention and outcomes in school.
"Linking our results to real performance data has allowed us to provide robust evidence of a link between eating breakfast and good school performance. There is reason to believe, therefore, that schools that are able to encourage young people who do not have breakfast at home to breakfast at school will achieve significant educational benefits, "said the co-author of the study, Dr. Graham Moore.
More than a third of 11- to 13-year-olds do not have breakfast at home
The findings of the Welsh researchers are not only relevant for Great Britain. Because according to the study on the health of children and adolescents in Germany (KiGGS) http://www.kiggs-studie.de/fileadmin/KiGGS-Dokumente/kiggs_tn_broschuere_web.pdf of the Robert Koch Institute from the year 2013 also sinks in this country with increasing Age The proportion of children who regularly have their breakfast at home. According to the study, just under a quarter (22.9%) of those aged 7 to 10 already go to school with their stomachs empty, and even more than a third of those aged 11 to 13 (33.9%). (No)