Junk Food Link to Academic Results

Researchers have found that pupils that consume junk food do not do as well academically that pupils that stick to healthier diets.

The medical study surveyed over 5 thousand 10- to 11-year-old students how many times per week they ate pre-prepared “fast food.” Dr Kerri Tobin (Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University) stated that the children were then administered tests in literacy and mathematics (specifically, the ability to understand mathematical concepts, perform calculations and interpret and use statistical information).

The researchers found a direct correlation  between the amount of sugar and high fat foods that they students stated they consumes and their (lack of) performance on the tests. Students who said that they ate “junk food” 4 to 6 times each week scored an average of 6.96 points lower in reading, while the pupils who stated that they ate “junk food” daily were were 16.07 points below average.  Test subjects who ate fast food for every meal were even worse: 19.34 points below average.

For the mathematics tests, students who consumed fast food 4 to 6 times each week had scores 6.55 points below average.  Daily consumption equated to a drop of 14.82 points, while the three-”junk food”-meals-a-day students scored 18.48 points below average.

The research supports the opinions of food experts that a healthier diet can improve a child’s various aspects that can affect a child’s education, such as concentration, attention span, learning ability, brain function and even behavior.