The effect of healthy dietary consumption on executive cognitive functioning in children and adolescents: a systematic review

Abstract

A systematic review was conducted to evaluate whether healthier dietary consumption among children and adolescents impacts executive functioning. PubMed, Education Resources Information Center, PsychINFO and Thomson Reuters' Web of Science databases were searched, and studies of executive functioning among children or adolescents aged 6-18 years, which examined food quality, macronutrients and/or foods, were included. Study quality was also assessed. In all, twenty-one studies met inclusion criteria. Among the twelve studies examining food quality (n 9) or macronutrient intakes (n 4), studies examining longer-term diet (n 6) showed positive associations between healthier overall diet quality and executive functioning, whereas the studies examining the acute impact of diet (n 6) were inconsistent but suggestive of improvements in executive functioning with better food quality. Among the ten studies examining foods, overall, there was a positive association between healthier foods (e.g. whole grains, fish, fruits and/or vegetables) and executive function, whereas less-healthy snack foods, sugar-sweetened beverages and red/processed meats were inversely associated with executive functioning. Taken together, evidence suggests a positive association between healthy dietary consumption and executive functioning. Additional studies examining the effects of healthier food consumption, as well as macronutrients, on executive functioning are warranted. These studies should ideally be conducted in controlled environments and use validated cognitive tests.Key words: Executive functioning: Systematic reviews: Child and adolescent diet: Healthy dietary patterns Cognitive functioning plays a crucial role in both academic achievement (1,2) and health-related decision making (3)(4)(5) in children and adolescents. Executive functioning (EF) is a particularly important domain within cognitive processing and consists of the mental capacity to make goal-directed behaviours, including inhibitory control, working memory, attention and planning. EF skills develop throughout childhood and adolescence and parallel the developmental changes that occur in the brain throughout this period (6) .Diet is likely to play an important role in cognitive functioning and EF, and previous literature reviews have focused on the impact of breakfast consumption and its association with general child cognition and/or academic performance. A review of forty-one publications by Hoyland et al. (7) concluded that compared with skipping breakfast, children who consumed breakfast demonstrated improved cognitive performance based on various measures of cognitive functioning and academic achievement. The observed effect was greater among nutritionally at-risk or stunted children compared with those who were well nourished. However, the quality of the breakfast was not assessed given the paucity of publications in that area, and the breakfasts cited within the studies reviewed were typically of poor nutritional quality (e.g. high in refined carbohydrates ...

The effects of fatty fish intake on adolescents’ nutritional status and associations with attention performance: results from the FINS-TEENS randomized controlled trial

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