Making the Grade

How to eat your way to a successful school year

By Susie Strachan

Kyra McCubbin is careful about what she packs for lunch.

"I'm in the accelerated program, which means I'm taking university-level courses this year," says the 17-year-old Sturgeon Heights High School student. As a result, she tends to favour foods that might give her brain a bit of a boost. On any given day, she will choose from a menu that includes seafood, eggs, pasta and salads - foods that may help give her an edge in the classroom.

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Her brother, Scott, is also conscious of what he eats. A student at Bruce Junior High School, the 13-year-old tries to pick foods that may help him excel at his favourite sports - badminton, basketball and soccer. Lift the lid of his lunch box, and you'll find a ham sandwich, an apple, carrots and a juice box. He also likes to pack a cereal bar, which he'll pull out for a mid afternoon snack. "Our coaches talk to us every now and then about what to eat," he says. "I try to pick foods that will help me do well in sports."

The healthy food choices don't stop at lunch. Their mother, Lori McCubbin, makes sure that Kyra, Scott and middle child Spencer, 15, get off to a good start in the morning. The breakfast menu usually consists of cereal, milk, eggs, waffles, yogurt and fruit. And then there is dinner - selections can include meat, vegetables and pasta.

In addition to eating healthy foods, the kids also try to avoid eating less healthy foods. Junk food is limited, although there have been some breakdowns in that department, acknowledges Lori - the boys do have a soft spot for Slurpees. "As they get older, and start to make a little money, they can buy anything they want to eat," she says with a rueful shake of her head. "I'm trying to let them know what good food is now, so they won't fill up on junk when they grow up," she adds.

Bottom line: The McCubbin kids are making good food choices that should help them maintain their overall health and well-being. But can their diet also help them become more successful at school?

The answer, according to Lorna Shaw-Hoeppner, a community nutritionist with the Winnipeg Health Region's ACCESS River East health centre, is yes. An increasing number of studies are indicating that what kids eat can have a positive impact on their grades, as well as their physical and social development - the three main ingredients to a successful school year. Moreover, says Shaw-Hoeppner, studies also show that being undernourished can do just the opposite.

For example, the Children's Lifestyle and School-performance Study (CLASS) in Nova Scotia looked at the performance of 5,000 fifth graders. It found that those with the best diet quality did better, regardless of other factors. They used an index to measure diet quality based on a few things, including adequacy, balance, fruit and vegetable intake. "We demonstrated that above and beyond socioeconomic factors, diet quality is important to academic performance," according to Paul Veugelers, one of the study's authors. With kids of all ages now back at school this fall, that research is providing some food for thought.

When it comes to eating their way to a better school year, the McCubbin kids appear to be nibbling in the right direction, says Shaw-Hoeppner. That's because they're choosing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seafood and pastas - foods that contain protein and carbohydrates that power the body and boost the brain. And they're also avoiding the pitfall of too much junk food, such as chips and pop, which is high in empty calories, salt, sugar and bad fats, which leads to unhealthy bodies and sluggish brains.

Not that there isn't room for improvement. "The McCubbin kids have three food groups in their lunches, but it seems both Scott and Kyra are missing dairy products," notes Shaw-Hoeppner. That's important because kids can significantly increase bone mass during the teen years, and dairy products provide a good source of calcium and Vitamin D, which build strong bones. "They need to consume more dairy," she says.

Shaw-Hoeppner also has a suggestion or two for Scott's lunch menu. "Although ham is a lean deli meat, it is rather high in sodium. It would be best to vary his sandwiches and include un-processed meats such as roast chicken, tuna or salmon. Milk would be a healthier choice than juice, but if juice is selected, orange and pineapple juices have more nutrients than apple juice."

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