by Debbie Markel, CH, CNHP

        I was one of those obnoxious kids who actually liked going back to school every fall.  I looked forward to getting a new outfit to wear on the first day, a pair of shiny “school shoes” and a new lunch box.  My mother always fixed us breakfast, even though she hated getting up and making it.  She also packed our lunches every day to save money.  Breakfast was usually eggs with toast and bacon, pancakes or hot cereal (like oatmeal).  We had grits with almost everything!  Once in a while we would eat Cheerios or Shredded Wheat.  It was a real treat to buy lunch at school which only happened a few times each year.  Our lunches usually consisted of a sandwich (which more often than not was peanut butter and jelly), a piece of fruit, and some celery or carrot sticks.  We bought milk to drink because there weren’t any other choices.  (It cost a nickel, by the way, which might clue you in on how old I am!)  We didn’t have snack cakes of any kind and rarely even got to have cookies.  Mom probably didn’t realize it, but except for making our toast and sandwiches with white bread, she was giving us almost-perfect meals to help us stay alert and enhance our learning abilities in school.

            More and more studies are showing that good nutrition really does help children learn better.  An article in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (February, 1998) reported that children who regularly ate nutritionally-balanced breakfasts had better standardized test scores, better behavior, and were less hyperactive than children who skipped breakfast.  Another study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (April, 1998) verified that skipping breakfast had adverse affects on children’s ability to recall word lists and read stories aloud.  This column often mentions the negative affects sugar and refined carbohydrates have on all aspects of health.  When we eat something sugary or high in refined carbohydrates, our blood sugar level will rise, then it will drop rapidly.  We may get a sudden burst of energy, but it won’t last very long.  Caffeine will have a similar effect.  Children who consume sugar, refined carbohydrates and caffeine at a meal may become tired and sluggish after about two hours.  Medline, an online medical reference website from the National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine (www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency), reports that when blood glucose levels rise quickly, adrenaline production also rises.  When adrenaline falls, there can be a period of decreased activity.  This can affect learning and performance in school.  I could cite study after study after study, but there is overwhelming evidence to show that diet strongly affects behavior and learning in children.

            Many families let their children buy lunch at school and they trust that the schools are feeding their children well.  What parents may not know is that in many schools, even at the elementary level, if children purchase their foods a la carte (individual items instead of a whole meal), the children may be making poor selections.  For example, they may be able to have pizza and French fries for lunch, or even make a whole meal out of nothing but French fries.  Pizza and fries are high in saturated fats, high in refined carbohydrates and low in nutrients.  When entire meals are purchased, however, many school systems require the children to receive a main dish item and then choose vegetables and fruits to go with it.  Parents should be sure they know how their children are spending their lunch money at school.

            Even when parents are rushing to get their families up and out in the mornings, they can provide healthy meals to their children.  If cold cereal is the most convenient breakfast, choose whole grain, unsweetened cereals.  Add some fresh fruit or raisins to make it taste sweeter.  Also note that even though cereal advertisements are touting that kids’ cereals now contain whole grains, the sugar levels in those cereals still haven’t changed.  Unless the whole grain is the first ingredient listed on the box, it is not the primary grain in the cereal.  If serving instant hot cereals, like oatmeal, buy the plain variety.  All the others are high in added sugars and even artificial ingredients.  Lunches can be packed the night before or the children can help make them in the morning.  Pre-cut carrots and celery make crunchy, nutritious additions along with that PBJ sandwich on 100% whole wheat bread.  Add a handful of nuts or some baked pita chips and a piece of fresh fruit and your child will have a healthy, low-fat, almost sugar-free lunch.  Low-salt Triscuit crackers with a small amount of cheese or other healthy spread, or microwavable soup could substitute for the sandwich.  Salads are always a great choice for lunch.  By adding hard-boiled eggs or some sliced, grilled chicken to your child’s salad, you’ll be adding protein and variety to those lunch box meals. 

            Another memory I have of my childhood is that when I wanted to eat something that wasn’t good for me, my mother would say “no” and mean it.  Also, if I didn’t want to eat what she fixed for meals, she let me go away from the table hungry.  She knew I’d eat it when I got hungry enough.  She was right.

For a list of research studies about how nutrition affects learning, visit www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/service/learnpub.htm at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).  A list of healthy menu ideas and recipes are at www.nal.usda.gov/childcare/index.html, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Information Center for child care providers.

Debbie Markel, Certified Herbalist and Certified Natural Health Professional, is the proprietor of Apothecarian Herbals in Powhatan.