Objective

Inadequate nutrition adversely impacts brain development and cognitive functioning (Pollitt et al., 1983). Studies examining the acute impact of eating regular meals on cognition have reported inconsistent findings, necessitating the exploration of individual differences in samples contributing to equivocal results. The present study examines the impact of skipping lunch on cognitive ability in college-aged students by including eating restraint as a moderator.

Methods

Participants were 99 college-aged students (M = 19.7 years, SD = 1.5) randomized to a blinded ‘lunch’ or ‘lunch-omission’ condition, and assessed on memory, attention, processing speed, set shifting, and eating disorder symptomology.

Results

Regressing long and short-term memory on the lunch manipulation, eating restraint scores, and their interaction revealed significant interactions: those who had lunch had superior memory performance, but only for those reporting lower levels of eating restraint. Regressing set shifting speed on the manipulation, those who had lunch had slower set shifting speed than those who skipped, but only for those reporting lower levels of eating restraint.

Conclusions

Results suggest that skipping lunch may have immediate consequences on cognition, however, cognitive enhancing effects may be diminished in the presence of even low levels of eating restraint. Findings highlight the significance of purported subclinical levels of eating restraint and may inform health education strategies.

中文翻译：

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一系列限制性饮食中的不吃饭和认知。

客观的

营养不足会对大脑发育和认知功能产生不利影响（Pollitt 等，1983）。研究定期进餐对认知的严重影响的研究报告了不一致的结果，因此有必要探索导致模棱两可结果的样本中的个体差异。本研究通过将饮食限制作为调节因素来检验不吃午餐对大学生认知能力的影响。

方法

参与者是 99 名大学生（M  = 19.7 岁，SD  = 1.5），被随机分配到盲人“午餐”或“午餐遗漏”条件下，并评估记忆力、注意力、处理速度、换位和饮食失调症状。

结果

对午餐操纵、饮食限制分数及其相互作用的长期和短期记忆进行回归揭示了显着的相互作用：那些吃午餐的人记忆力更好，但仅适用于那些报告饮食限制水平较低的人。在操纵上回归设定换档速度，吃午饭的人比跳过的人有更慢的设定换档速度，但仅适用于那些报告饮食限制水平较低的人。

结论

结果表明，不吃午餐可能会对认知产生直接影响，然而，即使存在低水平的饮食限制，认知增强效果也可能会减弱。研究结果强调了所谓的亚临床饮食限制水平的重要性，并可能为健康教育策略提供信息。