The effects of short term fasting on the cognitive functioning of 9 and 10-year-old children of differing nutritional status - abstract

ABSTRACT

Schoolfeeding programmes may benefit children through the relief of hunger. There are no studies on the effects of hunger on the congitive function of malnourished children, who may be particularly vulnerable. We therefore, examined the effects of omitting breakfast on the cognitive functions of chronically undernourished children (n = 30). Malnourished and control subjects were admitted overnight to the ward on two occasions, on week apart. They received a standard dinner (940 Kcals) in the evening. By random assingment, half the children received a standard breakfast (590 Kcals) on the morning of their first visit and a placebo on their second visit. The treatment order was reversed for the other half. Tests of cognitive functioning were given at 1100 a.m. Since the previously malnourished and the chronically undernourished children behaved similarly, they were combined and compared to the adequately nourished. In the fasted state, the malnourished group had lower scores in fluency but the adequately nourished were not affected (group x treatment, p < 0.05); whereas in arithmetic, the adequately nourished had better scores and the malnourished group was not affected (group x treatment, p< 0.05). When weight-for-height was considered, the wasted children (<90 percent expected weight-for-height) tended to do worse when fasted, and the non-wasted slightly better in short-term memory and problem-solving ability (group x treatment, p<0.05). Omitting breakfast appears to have a detrimental effect in poorly nourished children but not in adequately nourished ones. The former are therefore most likely to benefit from schoolfeeding programmes (AU)