Effect of nutrition on children

What Nutritional Elements Elevate Learning Abilities?
Mona Alkathiri
Middle Tennessee State University

Abstract
The purpose of this study is to find the influence of foods that improve the learning abilities for a student. While studying for a day long, our brain needs to go through continuous work. Certain nutrients are necessary for proper brain functioning. Studies found that, sialic acid, folate, choline, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin B6 and B12 perform an important role to our sustained ability to learn. This paper will provides an overview of recent studies on the brain functions associated with certain nutrition.

What Nutritional Elements Elevate Learning Abilities?
Certain foods are responsible for the proper brain functioning where as proper brain functioning is a prerequisite for efficient cognitive and learning ability. So, which foods, or at least which components of certain foods, have a more positive impact to keep our memory and learning abilities as the decades pass? Researchers have shown their interest in the potential for food and specific nutrients to influence various aspects of the psychological state, including mental performance and psychological well-being (Dye, Lluch, & Blundell 2000). There are a number of dietary components that have been identified as influencing cognitive performance. Among them folate, vitamins B6 and B12, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, amino acids, glucose, caffeine, thiamine, niacin, choline, sialic acid, zinc, and iron have a major impact on cognitive performance (Bryan, Calvaresi, & Hughes, 2002; Bryan & Calvaresi, 2003; Morris, Evans, & Bienias, 2004).
Foods provided by schools also have influence on students’ performance and their learning behavior. It was found that by providing and promoting healthier school food at lunchtime and improving the school dining room environment resulted in improvements in pupils’

References: Arija, V., Esparo, G., Ballart, J. F., Murphy, M. M., Biarnes, E., & Canals, J. (2006). Nutritional status and performance in test of verbal and non-verbal intelligence in 6 year old children. Intelligence, 34, 141-149. Bryan, J., Calvaresi, E., & Hughes, D. (2002). Short-term folate, vitamin B-12 or vitamin B-6 supplementation slightly affects memory performance but not mood in women of various ages. Journal of Nutrition,132, (6), 1345–1356. Carruyo-Vizcaíno, C., Vizcaino, G., Diez-Ewald, M., Arteaga-Vizcaino, M., & Torres-Guerra, E. (1995). Hemoglobin and nutrient concentration in middle-class adolescents. Relationship with school performance]. Investigación clínica, 36(3), 117. Dani, S. U., Hori, A., & Walter, G. F. (1997). Principles of neural aging. Elsevier Science & Technology. Dye, L., Lluch, A., & Blundell J. E. (2000). Macronutrients and mental performance. Nutrition, 16, (10), 1021–1034. Favier, J. C., Ireland-Ripert, J., Toque, C., & Feinberg, M. (1997). Re´pertoire general des aliments. Table de composition. Parı´s7 TEC and DOC Lavoiseier-INRA. López-Ortal, P., Souza, V., Bucio, L., González, E., & Gutiérrez-Ruiz, M. C. (1999). DNA damage produced by cadmium in a human fetal hepatic cell line.Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis, 439(2), 301-306. Morris, M.C., Evans, D.A., & Bienias, J.L. (2004). Dietary niacin and the risk of incident Alzheimer’s disease and of cognitive decline. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 75 (8) 1093–1099. Golley, R., Baines, E., Bassett, P., Wood, L., Pearce, J., & Nelson, M. (2010). School lunch and learning behavior in primary schools: an intervention study. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 64, 1280-1288. Pinilla, F. G. (2008). Brain foods: the effect of nutrients on brain function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9, 568-578. Thompson, F. E., & Byers, T. (1994). Dietary assessment resource manual.The Journal of Nutrition, 124(11 Suppl), 2245s-2317s. Wang, B., Miller, J Wasserman, G.A., Liu, X., Parvez, F., Ahsan, H., Factor-Litvak, P., van Geen, A., et al., 2004. Water arsenic exposure and children’s intellectual function in Araihazar, Bangladesh. Environ. Health Perspect. 12, 1329–1333. Wasserman, G.A., Liu, X., Parvez, F., Ahsan, H., Levy, D., Factor-Litvak, P., et al., 2006. Water manganese exposure and children’s intellectual function in Araihazar, Bangladesh. Environ. Health Perspect. 114 (1), 124–129. Wechsler, D. (1976). Escala de inteligencia de Wechsler para preescolar y primaria: manual. TEA Ediciones. Windham, B Zeisel, S. H., Char, D., & Sheard, N. F. (1986). Choline, phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin in human and bovine milk and infant formulas. The Journal of nutrition, 116(1), 50. Zeisel, S. H. (2004). Nutritional importance of choline for brain development. Journal of the American College of Nutrition.23 (6), 621-626.