One of the main factors that affect children school performance is nutrition. Studies show that a child’s diet can influence how well he or she does in school.
If a child’s diet is not balanced and has too much junk food and sugar in it, he or she will miss out on the micro-nutrients that affect brain development and learning.
What are micro-nutrients? According to World Food Organization (WFO), they “enable the body to produce enzymes, hormones and other substances essential for proper growth and development.”
Two of the most important micro-nutrients are vitamin A and iron; should children lack even the slightest for either of them, their health is seriously threatened.
Studies show that a child’s diet can influence how well he or she performs in school, because good nutrition helps improve attentiveness, increase energy levels and augment the brain processes that affect learning.
Though micro-nutrients deficiency are common, few have known that symptoms such as lethargy, weakness, a reduced ability to learn and the tendency to be easily exhausted can be traced due to lack of micro-nutrients which can be found in fruits, vegetables, shellfishes, meat, dairy and poultry products.
Micro-nutrients are classified into water-soluble vitamin and minerals which are both vital in not only in children but to adults as well. The water-soluble micro-nutrients are thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine, folic acid and cobalamin while the mineral micro-nutrients are phosphorous, zinc, magnesium, manganese, copper, chromium, selenium, cobalt, molybdenum and potassium.
The lack of most micro-nutrients mention above in children diet can lead to hampering of their growth, malnutrition, impaired learning and poor performance in school.
