Health

Healthy eating and academic performance

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What do wholesome meals and test scores have in common?

Quite a bit, according to public health research. One neat part about managing a blog is that I have access to every search engine query that directs a visitor to my site. I have noticed a remarkable number of Google searches on the topic of healthy eating and academic performance – an encouraging trend! Below, for interested folks, is a quick round-up of research and resources that should help to explicate the relationship between good food and a sharp mind. Enjoy!

  • Journal of American Public Health Association: Hollar, et al concluded that children who participated in an obesity prevention program that included healthy food “had significantly higher math scores”.
  • The American Dietetic Association: Rampersaud, et al. state, “Evidence suggests that breakfast consumption may improve cognitive function related to memory, test grades, and school attendance.”
  • Journal of School Health: Florence, et al. found “an association between diet quality and academic performance.”
  • Reuters: Healthy Diet Means Better School Performance
  • Healthy Eating Research has a long list of additional resources.
  • What about physical activity and academics? According to Leadership for Healthy Communities, test scores increase along with amount of physical activity. Learn more here.

Tour Favorites of the Week

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Well, it’s my birthday today… And although I usually struggle to put my computer away and take a break from School Food Tour planning, when a special personal holiday coincides with a 3 day snow accumulation of 45 inches (seriously!) the draw of powdery play time overwhelms me. Below are the rosy cheeks of one happy birthday girl.

Onto business! I’m trying a new format for sharing all the neat news tidbits that I read: ONE comprehensive weekly post. So here goes…

Weekly News Update

Again, feedback is welcome – would you rather read a bunch of consistent short articles or get them all at once?

More thoughts on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines

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Please excuse me while I geek out on behavior change theory for a moment…

I finally had a chance to sit down and read through the entire 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines document. I was pleased to note that the authors recognize that healthy eating is not as simple as choosing more fruits and veggies from the local supermarket. Many individuals simply do not have access to fresh produce and/or cannot afford to purchase healthy items. Page 56 of the guidelines uses a Social Ecological Framework to demonstrate the multiple levels of influence that affect one’s eating behaviors.

It is essential that policymakers and health advocates acknowledge the integral role that one’s surrounding environment plays in food consumption. I hope that this broad societal factor will continue to be taken into consideration as we move forward in our efforts to reverse the obesity epidemic.