Many people are often worried about their physical well-being and the balance nutrition plays in their overall health. New research is now being done to show the importance of our daily diet and how it affects our children's emotional and mental well-being. A study done with more than 85-hundred kids in the U.K. found that there is a link between what kind of foods we eat and mental health. Children who ate the recommended 5 or more servings of produce every day ended up scoring the highest on mental well-being tests.
As part of the study, children were required to journal what they ate and answer age-appropriate questions about their mood, relaxation and their interpersonal relationships.
They found that only about 25% of elementary and middle school-aged students actually get their five servings of fresh fruit and veggies each day. About 20% of tweens and teens don't eat breakfast and only 10% of elementary students skip their first meal of the day. Kids who ate a meal in the morning were found to have a better well-being than those who only had a snack, drink or didn't eat at all.
Middle school students who only have an energy drink for their first meal of the day had especially low well-being scores. They were even lower than those kids who don't even eat breakfast.
Only about 10% of kids are not eating any fruits or vegetables at all. When kids skip meals they are not only affecting their academic performance but their physical and emotional development as well.
Lead study and author, Alisa Welch explains "We know that poor mental well-being is a major issue for young people and is likely to have long-term negative consequences."
Read the full article at StudyFinds.org