So, is this scientific vindication of what your mother always used to tell you—that breakfast-eating is crucial to academic success?
Not exactly. There is an alternate—and perhaps more compelling—explanation for why breakfast-eaters do relatively well in school while breakfast-skippers may have a tough time: The skippers are also the ones whose bodies rebel against early-morning activity. Their circadian clocks are telling them that it's still nighttime, or they're plain exhausted and need the extra zzz's. Taken together, the scientific literature on breakfast and sleep suggests that making sure kids get enough shut-eye will probably do more for them than dragging them out of bed to eat their Wheaties. Yet the authors of the new review article—like most nutrition researchers—overlook the literature on sleep, which seems to exist in a separate, academic bubble. That's too bad, because differences in kids' sleep patterns may underlie the questions about cognition and academic performance—as well as health effects like obesity—that the breakfast club is most interested in answering.
