Experts say nutrition linked to mental, physical success in school-aged children

MALDEN, Mo. (KBSI) – As kids go back to school, they start eating more school lunches and breakfasts at school.

Lunch isn’t often looked at as a subject such as math or reading, but experts say it is just as important. Proper nutrition in children is linked to both mental and physical success and a lot of nutrition comes from school during the school year for students.

Amy Cluck is a family nurse practitioner at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Malden.

She shares how foods have an impact on children’s focus and overall health. 

“It can affect their focus their attention span those are two big things, cognitive function, being able to think clearly and focus on their schoolwork,” said Cluck. “They need to eat those whole foods because what you put in really does matter and starting as a child it’s good to really get the healthy habits in because ya know as we get those habits, and we make them because as an adult if we don’t have these healthy habits were going to have different diagnosis.” 

Diagnosis such as diabetes or obesity often develop from bad eating habits.

Cluck says for parents packing their child’s lunch daily to make sure you hit all the food groups to ensure they are getting proper nutrition and to pack foods lower in sugar.

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