Raising Smarter Children

Yesterday, we talked about food and learning.  Food alone may not have the proper nutrients to give your child everything needed for great health and a great brain.

Today’s post shows why removing certain foods can help make kids ’smarter’ and even raise national test scores.

While this study was done a while back, it is the single largest study ever, showing how changes in school cafeteria food actually raised national test scores!

During 1979-1983, a study involving over one million children in 803 New York City Public Schools,  showed that eliminating artificial colors, flavors, preservatives like BHA and BHT, and reducing the amount of sugar overall, raised national test scores by 41%! 

Here’s another excerpt from the book, What’s Food Got To Do With It? 101 Natural Remedies For Learning Disabilities giving more details and unique ways you can think about raising a smarter child, just by paying careful attention to the foods your child eats, and doesn’t eat.

“The results of this study were spectacular.  The International Journal of Biosocial Research published the study and the authors wrote, ‘In short, New Your City Public Schools raised their mean national academic performance percentile rating from 39.2% to 54.9% in four years, with the gains occurring in the first, second and fourth years (precisely when the dietary improvements were made).’

“What is also interesting is the fact that before the dietary changes, 12.4% of the one million student sample were performing two or more years below grade level.  At the end of the study, that rate had dropped to 4.9%.

Even more exciting is the fact that before the dietary changes, the fewer numbers of children who ate the school food, the higher the school’s performance on the test.  After the diet was changed, the higher number of children who ate school meals within each school, the greater that school’s rate of gain in its ranking on the test…’

Here is some food for thought and the leading foods that pediatric allergists say can spark health, learning, and concentration problems.  You may want to think about these foods and ask your doctor whether they may be hindering your child’s learning potential.

Milk leads the list of allergic symptoms in young children as well as school age children and adults.  Symptoms like sinusitis, runny nose, mucus, and frequent colds are the ones allergists cite most often. 

Chocolate sensitivities can cause kids to become drowsy or even give them headaches.

Sugar tops the medical controversy list.  Given the current obesity epidemic, any parent may want to research how sugar affects their child.  Have you ever checked how much sugar is in just one soda?  How about the sugar disguised in corn syrup, which is found in countless foods like ice cream and cookies?

When you think about too much sugar and the possible health problems it can create for kids and adults, like Type II diabetes, or even being overweight, you may want to take a long, hard look — weighing both the pros and cons.

Wheat.  There is a substance in wheat called gluten which is known to cause digestive problems in some people.  That’s why you’ll see so many gluten free foods.  Check with your doctor to see if wheat is causing your child things like stomach aches or other health problems.

Nitrates, msg, caffeine, trans-fats or hydrogenated fats, corn, soy, eggs and citrus – your child may be sensitive to any or all of these, and when you see learning or health problems, it’s a good idea to check on all foods to see if they are to blame for your child’s inability to focus, sleep or learning problems.

While this all seems a lot to digest, raising a happy, healthy and smarter child is a great reason to look more carefully at the foods your child eats.  If your child eats school cafteria food, ask to see what’s in each item.  You may be surprised.

Check to see whether your school cafeteria can do what the New York City Public Schools did, then check your child’s and school’s test results.

We’d love to hear what you think.  Send a comment or hit the share this button to become part of the social community.

Remember, every child is smart!

Pat Wyman