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Every person is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization. Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by a failure to meet lower level needs. Life experiences may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy.

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Dr Katie Adolphus, Dr Clare Lawton and Professor Louise Dye from the Human Appetite Research Unit at the University of Leeds, School of Psychology, have been researching the importance of a healthy breakfast for school children. Their findings and conclusions below reassure the need and importance of our National School Breakfast Programme's work.

Breakfast: Fuel for the brain

Numerous scientific studies have investigated the effect of breakfast consumption on learning in children and adolescents. Children and adolescents have received particular research attention for a number of reasons. Firstly, children and adolescents may be particularly vulnerable to the nutritional effects of skipping breakfast skipping on brain activity. Glucose is the preferred energy source for the brain, which requires glucose for its energy needs. The human brain represents only 2% of body weight but accounts for 25% of the total body glucose consumption, which is more than any other organ in the body. Moreover, children have an even higher brain glucose consumption compared with adults. Studies indicate that the cerebral metabolic rate of glucose utilisation is approximately twice as high in children aged 4-10 years than adults [1].

The brain's capacity to store glucose (as glycogen) is limited. Furthermore, children and adolescents are subject to a longer overnight fasting period due to higher sleep demands, which can deplete glycogen stores overnight. Therefore, breakfast consumption is vital in providing adequate energy for the brain for the school morning.

Does eating breakfast help children learn at school?

In order to answer this question, our research group carried out three systematic reviews on the effects of breakfast on learning in children and adolescents [2-4]. In these reviews, we examined and summarised all of the scientific studies on the effect of breakfast on cognitive function, academic performance, and in-class behaviour in children and adolescents.

"The positive effects of breakfast consumption on cognitive function also tended to be stronger in children who were undernourished."

Cognitive function

In 2009, our research group conducted the first systematic review of all of the evidence examining the effect of breakfast on cognitive function measured using objective cognitive tests of attention, memory, reaction time, and executive function. We found that there was consistent evidence that breakfast consumption compared with skipping breakfast had a short-term (same morning) positive effect on cognitive function 4-hours after consumption. The most consistent support for the benefit of breakfast was for attention, memory, and executive function. The positive effects of breakfast consumption on cognitive function also tended to be stronger in children who were undernourished. We updated this review in 2016 to capture any new studies that had been published since 2009. The findings were consistent with our previous review but were supported by more evidence.

Academic performance

We have also examined the effect of breakfast on academic performance (such as school grades or achievement tests) and in-class behaviour by conducting the first systematic review of all of the scientific studies in this field. The findings demonstrated that habitual breakfast consumption frequency is positively related to academic performance, such that those children that eat breakfast more regularly have better school grades and achievement test scores after controlling for confounders such as socio-economic status (SES). Most support was found for improvements to Mathematics and arithmetic attainment. Moreover, the effects appear to be pervasive irrespective of socio-demographic characteristics such as gender, age, and SES. In this review, we also found a positive effect of breakfast on on-task behaviour in the classroom.

To follow this review, we conducted the first study to examine the relationship between habitual school-day breakfast consumption and GCSE attainment. GCSE attainment was assessed by three composite measures using the Department for Education point score system and by grades achieved in Maths and English. We found that school-day breakfast consumption was positively associated with overall GCSE performance, after controlling for covariates. Interesting, we found that school-day breakfast skipping was significantly associated with poorer Maths attainment in adolescents from lower socio-economic status backgrounds.

In conclusion

Breakfast consumption in children has been found to:

Improve cognitive function, particularly memory, attention, and executive function

Improve academic performance, including school grades and achievement test scores

Increase on-task behaviour in the class

If this study has inspired you to want to find out more about what we do to support children, in their learning by providing school breakfasts to thousands of children visit our National School Breakfast Programme page here. To watch the video about the studies watch the video below.
Read the University of Leeds report here or University of Leeds Breakfast and GCSE press release.
To read the original reviews:
Read Adolphus, K., Lawton, C. L., Champ, C .L., & Dye, L. (2016). The effects of breakfast and breakfast composition on cognition in children and adolescents: A systematic review. Advances in Nutrition article here.

Read Adolphus, K., Lawton, C. L., & Dye, L. (2013). The effects of breakfast on behaviour and academic performance in children and adolescents. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7 doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00425 article here.

Read Hoyland, A., L. Dye, and C.L. Lawton, A systematic review of the effect of breakfast on the cognitive performance of children and adolescents. Nutrition Research Reviews, 2009. 22(02): p. 220-243 article here.
References
[1] Chugani, H.T., A critical period of brain development: Studies of cerebral glucose utilisation with PET. Preventive Medicine, 1998. 27(2): p. 184-188.

[2] Adolphus, K., et al., The Effects of Breakfast and Breakfast Composition on Cognition in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review. Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 2016. 7(3).

[3] Adolphus, K., C.L. Lawton, and L. Dye, The effects of breakfast on behaviour and academic performance in children and adolescents. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2013. 7.

[4] Hoyland, A., L. Dye, and C.L. Lawton, A systematic review of the effect of breakfast on the cognitive performance of children and adolescents. Nutrition Research Reviews, 2009. 22(02): p. 220-243.

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The impact of breakfast on learning in children - Family Action

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Dr Katie Adolphus, Dr Clare Lawton and Professor Louise Dye from the Human Appetite Research Unit at the University of Leeds, School of Psychology, have been researching the importance of a healthy breakfast for school children. Their findings and conclusions below reassure the need and importance of our National School Breakfast Programme's work.

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Breakfast consumption in children has been found to:
- Improve cognitive function, particularly memory, attention, and executive function
- Improve academic performance, including school grades and achievement test scores
- Increase on-task behaviour in the class

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Someone with positive self-esteem will generally approach things thinking they are a good person who deserves love and support and can succeed in life.

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Social Needs

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Self-actualised people accept themselves and others as they are. They tend to lack inhibition and are able to enjoy themselves and their lives free of guilt.

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Implications of not eating breakfast may have on esteem

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Implications of not eating breakfast may have on esteem

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Esteem is borne out in our desire for social acceptance and status; a feeling of belonging and 'together-ness'. If a child is not nutritionally satisfied through not eating breakfast, a number of things could occur which separates them from their peers: hyperactivity causing misbehavior, weight gain which can spark bullying, effects on performance which may distance them from their classmates.

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Recognition from others in order to achieve

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Recognition from others in order to achieve

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Often people suffer because others do not see their positive qualities and do not value them. Self-realisation and actualisation can allow each person to appear before society in the splendour of their capabilities and talents. The ability to direct one’s good and bad character traits toward goals is always valuable in society. People who realise their potential are always loved and respected.

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These needs deal with the maintenance of the human body. They include the most basic needs and are vital to survival, such as the need for water, air, food and sleep. All other needs become secondary until these are met, if we need water little else matters until we've had something to drink.
Maslow regarded those needs towards the bottom of the pyramid as ‘deficiency needs’, because they arise due to inadequacies or deprivation.
"Your brain can't work if you're not consuming enough calories, and in general that's not a problem," explained Krista Casazza, Ph.D., R.D., assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences. "But when kids go to school without eating breakfast, their cognitive function can be affected."
“The UK has a growing problem of food poverty, with an estimated half a million children arriving at school each day too hungry to learn.
From brief research into the importance of a healthy breakfast in a school child's day it seems that without it 'little else matters' and it is likely that engagement will be poor as the child's cognitive function is affected and learning will be non-existent. This then leads to a downward spiral of poor grades and the desire to learn is lacking. Consequently,  children without their basic physiological needs met will struggle to meet the requirements of the national curriculum, subsequently falling behind proven in scientific study 'A study of 5,000 kids (ages 9 to 11) by Cardiff University showed that children are twice as likely to score higher than average grades if they start the day with a healthy breakfast.'

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Social AKA Love and Belongingness Needs. After physiological and safety needs have been fulfilled, the third level of human needs is social and involves feelings of belongingness. The need for interpersonal relationships motivates behavior.

Belonging is about having a secure relationship with or a connection with a particular group of people. When children feel a sense of belonging and sense of pride in their families, their peers, and their communities, they can be emotionally strong, self-assured, and able to deal with challenges and difficulties. This creates an important foundation for their learning and development. Embracing difference and providing  literature with diverse characters and storylines is key for making all children understand themselves, take pride in their heritage, and feel like they belong in school.

Giving children messages of respect, love, approval, and encouragement enables them to develop a positive sense of who they are and a feeling that they have an important contribution to make wherever they are - such as in the classroom.

This is even more important for children who do not receive love in the home.

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Love and Belonging in Class

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According to Maslows theory, safety needs are about a child feeling secure and safe – physically and emotionally, the need to have shelter/a home and to have stability to development at home/school. When a child is stressed about their safety it can inhibit their cognitive development. Even as a baby, their feeling of safety is solely dependent on another human. The stress of safety for a child/baby can have the quality of truama. This truama can effect them all through their lifetime.

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According to Maslow, people will only focus on growth needs after their deficiency needs have been met. An implication of this view is that fewer people manage to satisfy their growth needs than to satisfy their deficiency needs. This is why self-actualisation is rightly placed at the top of the pyramid.

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Esteem needs encompass confidence, strength, self-belief, personal and social acceptance, and respect from others...
While esteem is an internal quality, we are affected by external factors, such as validation and approval from our peers.