Study finds that nutritious school lunches can raise math scores.

Does eating right make schoolchildren perform better? A team led by Arthur Agatston, a cardiologist and creator of the popular South Beach diet, presented findings at an Obesity Society meeting over the weekend showing that improving the nutritional quality of school meals bolstered the academic performance of students over a two-year period, in addition to lowering their weight and blood pressure. The researchers saw significant increases in math scores among the 1,197 elementary students who participated in the Healthier Options for Public Schoolchildren obesity prevention program, an intervention currently used in 79 schools in seven states.

The program targets low-income students who qualify for the free or reduced-cost lunch programs run by the federal government. In addition to putting more healthful food choices in the cafeteria, it features a focus on good nutrition through school assemblies, class activities, and by having adults model good eating habits. U.S. News caught up with Agatston to learn more about the connection between nutrition and academic performance.

Were you surprised to see that academic skills improved with a better diet?
Not really. Ask any teacher about the sugar high kids have after lunch. They’re bouncing off the walls, and then they fall asleep. It makes sense that students are going to pay attention more and learn more if they’re eating well.

How exactly did you change the kids’ diets?
Many kids—while overfed—are literally malnourished. Our idea was to go into elementary schools and really change what kids ate and try to have them exercise more. This wasn’t a diet. We weren’t having them count calories or anything like that. We just offered kids wholesome food—meaning there was less saturated fat, no trans fats, and more whole grains and fruits and vegetables. We used, for example, better oils, such as olive oil.

Were the kids willing to eat the new, more healthful foods?
Absolutely. Kids will get excited about good food. We ran one assembly, in fact, that had kids standing up and cheering and giving each other high-fives for broccoli and fiber. Each month there are posters with cartoon characters about the food of the month. We had taste tests with older kids. Some of the schools even had kids help grow vegetable gardens. It’s really true: What kids grow, they’ll eat.

It wasn’t always easy. There were challenges. Some parents and people within some of the schools weren’t always interested in what we were trying to do. In the beginning, when we first substituted in all-bran cereal for Froot Loops, the kids threw it out. So we went to Raisin Bran as a compromise.

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