Healthy diet boosts literacy

Nutritionally investing in your child's school performance is more than offering a healthy breakfast, says one new Canadian study. Well-rounded nutrition throughout the day boosts literacy.

Canadian researchers examined 4,589 fifth-graders involved in the Children's Lifestyle and School-performance Study. Nearly 20 percent of the students had flunked an elementary literacy assessment. Turns out the better a child's nutritional habits, the less likely students failed the test. Even after adjusting for the effects of family income, education, school and sex, a quality diet's positive impact on literacy held firm.

Keep buying those carrot sticks. Pack a healthy lunch and snack. Make a goal to prepare double the number of home-cooked meals next month and see how your family responds. Step forward and guide positive choices whenever you can. This morning, our son scored a juice box (too much sugar) and a low-fat granola bar (better) as a team snack following his soccer game. Our younger daughter wanted something special from the concession stand, too. So we guided her purchase toward the 60 percent less fat Chex Mix, even though it would have been easier to just buy the Laffy Taffy candy. Schools can make all the healthy food policies they want, but parental modeling of healthy eating matters most.