district wellness policy
Research has shown that nutrition is important for cognitive and brain development; therefore, making healthy food choices becomes vital to a student’s academic performance. Nutrients provide the energy needed to complete simple and complex tasks. Even a moderate lack of nutrients can have lasting effects on children’s cognitive development and school performance, based on the 1994 Nutrition-Cognition Initiative (Center on Hunger, Poverty and nutrition).
According to the Nutrition Cognition Initiative, continuous low nutritional intake affects factors such as motivation and attentiveness, which can have a negative effect on developmental processes such as learning. Chronically undernourished children and adolescents are more prone to irritability and lack of concentration. Consequently, they attain lower scores on standardized achievement tests. Furthermore, when children are undernourished, they have more difficulty resisting infection. Thus, they are more likely to get sick, miss school and fall behind in class. Because of their lack in adequate nutrients, they are low in energy, which can limit their physical activity, and this, in turn, affects cognitive functioning.
Whether a student skips a meal, is chronically undernourished or obese, evidence clearly demonstrates the impact that nutritional food choices have on academic performance. Nutritious meals have been shown to increase attention and concentration, and overall academic scores are generally higher. Unfortunately, not all adolescents have access to healthy food alternatives and most are uninformed about the importance of nutrition.
According to the Nutrition Cognition Initiative, continuous low nutritional intake affects factors such as motivation and attentiveness, which can have a negative effect on developmental processes such as learning. Chronically undernourished children and adolescents are more prone to irritability and lack of concentration. Consequently, they attain lower scores on standardized achievement tests. Furthermore, when children are undernourished, they have more difficulty resisting infection. Thus, they are more likely to get sick, miss school and fall behind in class. Because of their lack in adequate nutrients, they are low in energy, which can limit their physical activity, and this, in turn, affects cognitive functioning.
Whether a student skips a meal, is chronically undernourished or obese, evidence clearly demonstrates the impact that nutritional food choices have on academic performance. Nutritious meals have been shown to increase attention and concentration, and overall academic scores are generally higher. Unfortunately, not all adolescents have access to healthy food alternatives and most are uninformed about the importance of nutrition.