HOW IMPORTANT IS BREAKFAST?

An extensive body of research documents that ways that breakfast consumption positively influences students' cognitive functioning, focus, attention and emotional well-being. Based on child nutritional studies conducted across the country, Harvard researchers have concluded that breakfast helps children by improving their reading abilities, helps them pay better attention and stay more alert.  Breakfast is also shown to increase student attendance rates and decrease discipline problems which means that students and teachers have more time in class to focus on education .

Improved nutrition has the potential to positively influence students' academic performance and behavior.  Though researchers are still working to definitively prove the link, existing data suggests that with better nutrition, students are better able to learn, students have fewer absences, and students' behavior improves causing few disruptions in the classroom.

1.  Improved nutrition increases brain function.  Studies show that nutritional status can directly affect mental capacity among school-aged children.  There are also a number of studies showing that improvements in nutrient intake can influence the intelligence levels of school-age children.

2.  Good  nutrition helps students show up at school prepared to learn.  Because improvements in nutrition make students healthier, students are likely to have fewer absences and attend class more frequently.  Studies show that malnutrition leads to behavior problems.  A balanced diet that includes protein, fat, complex carbohydrates, and fiber can counteract these negative effects.  This will then lead to improved behavior that will cause fewer disruptions in the classroom, creating a better learning environment for each student in the class.

3.  Researchers generally find that a higher quality diet is associated with better performance on exams.  Eliminating the sale of soft drinks in vending machines in schools and replacing them with other drinks had a positive effect on behavioral outcomes such as tardiness and disciplinary referrals.

Every student has the potential to do well in school.  Failing to provide good nutrition puts them at risk for missing out on meeting that potential.

Comel Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs

Obese children and teenagers face a slew of potential health problems as they get older.  Obesity may also harm young people's long-term college and career prospects.  Research has suggested that obesity is associated with poorer academic performance beginning as early as kindergarten.  Studies show that obese students, especially girls, tend to have lower test scores than their slimmer peers, are more likely to be held back a grade, and are less likely to go on to college.

Amanda Gardner, Health+

One recent study showed that regularly drinking sugary beverages, like soda and fruit drinks, was associated with signs of brain aging and declining memory.  Another study showed that frequently drinking artificially-sweetened (diet) beverages was associated with greater risks of stroke and impaired memory and thinking skills.  Compared to not drinking sugary beverages, consuming one or two sugary beverages (all types) a day was associated with memory scores equal to six years of brain aging.  Consuming more that two sugary beverages a day was associated with memory scores equal to 11 years of brain aging.

Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter