Q I saw a commercial that said eating Frosted Mini-Wheats for breakfast would increase a child's attention span. Can that be true? — C.Y. Greenville.

A I would love to have a conversation about studies about food and supplements and their effects on disease and behaviors and how those studies are used in advertising. But that conversation is way too complex for my column. John Bream, a third-year medical student, wanted to take a stab at giving you an answer. Here is what John learned.

For all parents who think their children aren't listening to them, there's a new question to ask, "Did my child eat breakfast this morning?" We have known for a long time that children who eat breakfast more often come to school and attend to their lessons. A new study has found other reasons besides kick starting your metabolism for breakfast to be the most important meal of the day. Recent research performed by an independent research group and reviewed by third-party researchers reported that eating Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats for breakfast could increase a child's attention span by up to 18 percent. Children between 8-12 years old were given a breakfast consisting of either Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal or water and given a series of tests each hour for three consecutive hours. The three-hour time span was chosen because within three hours of eating most children begin to feel hungry again, thus creating a distraction. It was a pretty interesting study, so let me tell you about it.

Each group of children was given two tests. The first placed a letter or number in the bottom right-hand corner of a computer screen and then flashed a series of letters or numbers in the middle of the screen. Each time the letter in the bottom right-hand corner flashed in the middle of the screen, the child was instructed to press the right arrow key on the keyboard. This task demands sustained vigilance, so if the child's attention wandered, responses would be delayed or inaccurate. The second test asked children to press the right arrow key as quick as possible if the word "yes" appeared on the computer screen and left arrow key as quick as possible if "no" appeared. This test was designed to be lengthy to assess attention span, response time and accuracy of the response. The results of the study showed that children who ate Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats had up to 18 percent better attentiveness after three hours than the children who only had water for breakfast. This really isn't surprising to us. The study only compared eating a breakfast cereal to drinking water, and so this report only accentuates the known, positive health effects eating breakfast has on children. Many studies show that eating breakfast is associated with improved memory skills, improved test grades, and greater school attendance.

Studies also show a positive correlation between a high-fiber, slowly digested breakfast and improved auditory attention and short-term memory tasks. So to all of you who care for children, you can help your child's attention span by being a role model and eating breakfast.

While the study displays many positives of eating breakfast, it does have its limitations. The researchers compared Frosted Mini-Wheats to only water, so it is not certain that Frosted Mini-Wheats has any advantage over similar high-fiber cereals or even a chocolate candy bar containing nuts. In the morning, the brain needs energy in the form of glucose. The sugar from the candy bar would serve as a ready source of glucose just as the sugar in the cereal does. The peanuts and chocolate would have enough fat to slow absorption and prolong the effect just like fiber. So I don't see a need for you to run out and buy that specific cereal, rather join your children in beginning the day with a high-fiber breakfast and reap the benefits of an increased attention span, better grades, and an overall healthier child.

Professor Kathy Kolasa, a registered dietitian and Ph.D., works with the Family Medicine Center, Brody School of Medicine at ECU. Contact her at kolasaka@ecu.edu, or C/O The Daily Reflector, P.O. Box 1967, Greenville, NC 27835.