School Nutrition Services (SNS) Research

Publication: Nutrition Research

Date Published: January 2026

Reference:

Leidy, H. J., Douglas, S. M., Khan, N. A., & Greaves, K. A. (2026). Middle school students who consume school breakfast perform better on tasks assessing cognitive flexibility and executive function. Nutrition Research, 145, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nutres.2025.11.005

Key Takeaways: This cross-sectional study found that middle school students from low-income households who ate breakfast at school performed better on cognitive tasks measuring executive function and cognitive flexibility compared with those who either skipped breakfast or ate breakfast at home that morning. These results suggest that consuming school breakfast may offer short-term cognitive performance benefits in adolescents, highlighting the importance of school breakfast programs in supporting students’ cognitive functioning and readiness to learn.

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