Breakfast Consumption Habits at Age 6 and Cognitive Ability at Age 12: A Longitudinal Cohort Study

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the relationship between breakfast composition and long-term regular breakfast consumption and cognitive function. Participants included 835 children from the China Jintan Cohort Study for the cross-sectional study and 511 children for the longitudinal study. Breakfast consumption was assessed at ages 6 and 12 through parental and self-administered questionnaires. Cognitive ability was measured as a composition of IQ at age 6 and 12 and academic achievement at age 12, which were assessed by the Chinese versions of the Wechsler Intelligence Scales and standardized school reports, respectively. Multivariable general linear and mixed models were used to evaluate the relationships between breakfast consumption, breakfast composition and cognitive performance. In the longitudinal analyses, 94.7% of participants consumed breakfast ≥ 4 days per week. Controlling for nine covariates, multivariate mixed models reported that compared to infrequent breakfast consumption, regular breakfast intake was associated with an increase of 5.54 points for verbal and 4.35 points for full IQ scores (p < 0.05). In our cross-sectional analyses at age 12, consuming grain/rice or meat/egg 6–7 days per week was significantly associated with higher verbal, performance, and full-scale IQs, by 3.56, 3.69, and 4.56 points, respectively (p < 0.05), compared with consuming grain/rice 0–2 days per week. Regular meat/egg consumption appeared to facilitate academic achievement (mean difference = 0.232, p = 0.043). No association was found between fruit/vegetable and dairy consumption and cognitive ability. In this 6-year longitudinal study, regular breakfast habits are associated with higher IQ. Frequent grain/rice and meat/egg consumption during breakfast may be linked with improved cognitive function in youth.

Association between dietary patterns and cognitive ability in Chinese children aged 10–15 years: evidence from the 2010 China Family Panel Studies

“…Another study [ 50 ] showed that higher milk consumption could improve overall nutritional status in Korea adolescents, and the well-nourished children often performed better than the malnourished children [ 19 ]. In addition, higher consumption of meat or egg during breakfast might contribute to improved cognitive ability in youth [ 51 ].…”

Association Between Dairy Intake and Executive Function in Chinese Children Aged 6–12 Years

“…On the contrary, there are some inconsistent reports of associations between dairy intake and executive function ( 19 , 33 ). No association was observed between dairy intake and cognitive ability assessed by the Wechsler Intelligence Scales in a 6-year longitudinal study ( 18 ). Additionally, several studies carried out on older adults suggested that greater dairy intake is related to poorer memory performance and cognitive function ( 36 , 37 ).…”

“…Additionally, several studies carried out on older adults suggested that greater dairy intake is related to poorer memory performance and cognitive function ( 36 , 37 ). The pieces of literature with these inconsistent conclusions pointed out that the failure to distinguish between high- and low-fat dairy intakes is a possible reason ( 18 , 36 ). Based on the above, the current study explored the role of dairy fat content in this relationship.…”

“…The difference in the development process of executive function implies that associations of dairy intake with executive function among the elderly may not be extrapolated to children. It has become a public consensus that dairy intake can promote the physical development of children and adolescents (16), but studies investigating the association between dairy intake and executive function in children are still limited and controversial (9,(17)(18)(19)(20). Two school-based trials have shown that children who drink milk or more milk have better learning and executive function performance than those with no milk or less milk (9,20), although the studies did not distinguish types of dairy intake, such as full-or low-fat milk or yogurt.…”