Originally published October 23 2007
Reading, Writing and Nutrition: The Foundation to a Child’s Education
by Sarah Aitken
(NaturalNews) Nutrition can improve learning and memory in school children. A group of European scientists from Unilever have proved that nutrition is part of the foundation to a child's education, even if they are well fed.
The researchers, along with colleagues from research institutes in Australia and Indonesia performed a 12 month study with 780 children, as reported in Medical News Today.
The first group of studies – done with a group of children in Australia – were either given a vitamin and mineral mix to a daily drink, or a placebo. The children with the vitamin and mineral mix performed much better on tests measuring their learning and memory capabilities than the children who received the drink and placebo. The study was also carried out in Indonesia, and similar results were found but only for the girls.
The drink mix was either a mix of micronutrients (iron, zinc, folate and vitamins A, B-6, B-12 and C) or with fish-oil (DHA and EPA), or with both added, or a placebo. The children's blood was tested to determine the effectiveness of the uptake of the micronutrients. All the students from Australia showed higher levels of the micronutrients. The fish-oil only mixture did not show any significant role in improving cognitive ability in the students.
This study proves that children, even well-fed from Western countries, can greatly benefit from added nutrition. With the prevalence of junk food in schools, giving children little healthy choices, it would seem that we are systemically sabotaging our children's education and future. If you have children find a good quality vitamin and fish-oil product and give it to them every day. Their minds will benefit from it!
This study was performed by the NEMO study group (Nutrition Enhancement for Mental Optimization), which consists of the Unilever Food and Health Research Institute (Vlaardingen, The Netherlands); CSIRO, Human Nutrition (Adelaide, Australia) and the SEAMEO-TROPMED Regional Center for Community Nutrition, University of Indonesia (Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia).
Read the article here.
About the author
Sarah is a Chemical and Materials Engineer by education. Through years of focused self-study, she has come to see the benefit of whole food nutrition and allowing the body to heal itself. A Field Center Certified Facilitator, Sarah is passionate about being helpful to others, in any venue, in their quest for a better life.
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