INFLUENCE OF MEAL SIZE ON POST-LUNCH CHANGES IN PERFORMANCE EFFICIENCY, MOOD, AND CARDIOVASCULAR FUNCTION

This study examined the effects of the size of the meal on post-lunch changes in attention, mood, blood pressure and pulse. Thirty-five female subjects were tested before and after lunch. One group (n = 12) were then given a normal-sized lunch, another (n = 11) were given a lunch designed to contain 40% more energy than their individual requirement and the third group (n = 12) had a lunch with an energy content 40% less than the estimated requirement. After lunch all groups of subjects reported that they felt more feeble, dreamy and bored, and less alert, excited, clear-headed, energetic, quick-witted, friendly, sociable and elated. However, the size of the meal did not alter the extent of the pre/post-meal differences. Similarly, there was no effect of meal size on pulse rate or blood pressure, although pre/post-meal differences were observed. In contrast, subjects who had a larger lunch than normal made more errors on focussed attention and search tasks (especially the search task) than those who had a normal-sized lunch or one which was smaller than normal. © 1991.