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Smart Foods, Smart Grades
A youth nutrition program developed at Virginia Tech encourages a healthy diet and physical activity, which studies show may improve academic performance
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A study conducted by the American School Food Service Association shows that fourth graders with the lowest amount of protein in their diet also have the lowest academic achievement scores. Another study by the National Education Association finds that children with an iron deficiency have a shortened attention span and difficulty concentrating, and these children, many of whom are anemic, tend to do poorly on vocabulary and reading tests.
What does this mean for Virginia’s youth?
“Kids perform better [academically] when they have a healthy diet,” says Elena Serrano, an assistant professor of human nutrition, foods, and exercise and a Virginia Cooperative Extension nutrition specialist. “And children who are more vigorously active have better grades on average.”
Serrano spearheads Healthy Weights for Healthy Kids, a science-based program to educate youth about smart nutritional choices that has reached more than 10,000 Virginians, ages 7 to 14. The program aims to promote positive attitudes and behaviors toward diet, physical activity, and body image in an overarching effort to reduce overweight among youth.
Along with eating disorders, childhood and adolescent overweight has become a major problem in the United States, reaching epidemic proportions according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. More than one out of every eight children is overweight. In fact, studies show that the frequency of weight problems among youth in the South exceeds the national
average, and Virginia is no exception. When Serrano discovered these startling numbers, she began searching for an educational system that might curb these trends.
“I looked around the country at different curricular programs,” Serrano says. “But I found that there weren’t enough programs that taught good nutrition to children and adolescents.”
This prompted Serrano, who co-chairs the Action for Healthy Kids coalition in Virginia, to start her own nutrition education program. “We conducted a needs assessment before developing the curriculum,” she says. “This showed us that we needed to focus on six key areas.”
These six areas delve into (1) the importance of nutrition based on MyPyramid, (2) portion size and simple ways to eat in moderation, (3) healthy beveragessuch as water instead of soda, (4) simple and healthy snacks, (5) different types of movement to promote lifelong physical activity, and (6) body image.
Serrano gave a short title for each content area, beginning each with the word “smart” to appeal to a younger audience and emphasize the academic benefits of good nutrition – Smart Foods, Smart Choices, Smart Drinks, Smart Snacks, Smart Activities, and Smart Image.“We’ve revised the content every single year,” Serrano explains.
“Our original curriculum used small print and didn’t include as many resources, so after the first year we improved the curriculum so that an instructor can make copies straight from the handbook. We made further changes this year with the introduction of the new USDA food pyramid.” Because science-based research underpins the program, Serrano will fine-tune Healthy Weights for Healthy Kids as educators and nutrition experts publish new discoveries.
She is still compiling information about the program’s effectiveness at improving diet and thwarting childhood overweight, but at least one study has indicated a strong positive impact. According to the 2005 study, more than 300 fourth and fifth graders participating in Healthy Weights for Healthy Kids reported significant improvements in nutrition and physical activity knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.
Serrano hopes to market her curriculum to neighboring states once additional research on its usefulness is available. One day, parents throughout the country might thank Serrano for improving not only children’s nutrition, but also their grades.