I have always loved cooking. Cooking is something I was surrounded by ever since I can remember. I believe it has been the creative aspect of the process and presentation that draws me in- the infinite colour and taste palettes, and how such simple ingredients can come together in so many different ways, to create an experience. As I write, I am reminded of a scene from the movie Ratatouille, where the audience is given insight into Remy’s experience of tasting the perfect pairing of ingredients, as a light and sound show. As he bites into a piece of cheese, he sees circles and small swirls of yellowy-gold, and hears a burst of salsa music. He then bites into a strawberry and visualizes delicate circles and squiggles of pink, accompanied by French-inspired music. As beautiful as this may seem, imagine putting those two experiences together, to create an orchestration of sound, and a complex, yet pleasant visualization of shape and colour. THIS is what cooking can be about- and for me, it is.
Why do I want to write about cooking with nutrition in mind? Growing up with a teacher in the house (my mom), I often heard stories about students who would come to school without having eaten breakfast, and without a lunch or snacks. My mom would come home and talk about the trouble these students had focusing in school. They were hungry, and she suspected that not only did hunger get in the way of learning, but the lack of nutrition did as well. The snacks and lunches she did see in the classroom consisted of chips, chocolate bars, processed cheese spread on white bread, and fast food- including fries, burgers on white buns, and donuts.
As I began working in the school system myself, I noticed the very same trends. By this time, some schools had begun implementing breakfast programs, as schools realized the role food plays in the ability to learn.
In 2008, I began working with Dr. Nicholas Cepeda at York University as an honors thesis student. By this time, through observation in the school system, and even throughout my own life, I had noticed that there was a need for accessible education in preparing healthy food/meals. Although there is a huge stress on eating healthy for weight control and health in the media, we do not often hear about the academic effects of nutritional deficits. I have to say that it was an episode of Dr. Phil that first intrigued me to look at the effects of nutrition on academic achievement further. Dr. Phil’s mentor, Dr. Frank Lawlis, discussed how symptoms of nutritional (and sleep) deficits can mimic those of ADHD. You can find more about this in his book, “The IQ Answer”. After watching this episode, I began thinking about the growing number of cases of ADHD in the school system, along with the nutritional deficits I was witnessing in so many students, on a daily basis. I wanted to do something to investigate this further, and see if an overall nutrition intervention would improve academic success in students. Could better nutrition really be the answer to better grades? Was it going to be that “simple”? It was these questions that fueled my thesis work.
With the guidance of Dr. Cepeda, I designed and implemented a study allowing me to look at academic achievement before, and after implementing a nutrition intervention. Thirteen, grade seven and eight classrooms across western Ontario participated in this study. I asked half of these students to continue eating as they were, and the other half to eat, according to the Canada Food Guide. All students were asked to record all of their food and drink intake into a provided journal. Students who were asked to eat healthy, were provided with a menu of easy to make and tasty meals and snacks. As well, this menu contained a list of myths and facts about healthy eating. DID YOU KNOW…that it is not more expensive to eat healthy food? It’s TRUE! Stay tuned, and you’ll find out how!
Students in the healthy eating group, were also provided with a copy of the Canada Food Guide. For your own copy of the Canada Food Guide, follow this link http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng.php
Although we were not able to run the study as long as we would have liked, the insight that the food journals allowed, was invaluable. It was sad, but it was real. As you read through these excerpts, please consider that many of these students came from single-parent households, where that single parent often had to work through the night to make enough money to support the family. Throughout the process, I encouraged students to write down what they found challenging about eating healthy, or even taking part in the study (along with what they were eating). Here are some of the comments I heard when visiting the classrooms as well as some found throughout the journals:
My mom did not come home last night because she had to work, so I didn’t eat supper.
We had to move away from my dad so we didn’t have time to make food.
My mom had to work and left me a box of Kraft Dinner to make, so I had to make that.
My mom said the healthy foods were too expensive.
I didn’t write anything else, because I didn’t eat anything else (a student who had only written one food item that day).
I asked my mom to buy the healthy foods, but she doesn’t like them.
My dad takes me out for fast food every time he visits, so I had to go.
These students were faced with challenges which can easily get in the way of healthy eating. Students often had more pressing worries, than ensuring they ate healthy on a regular basis. Where should eating healthy be on the list of priorities, when parents and children are living in high stress situations? Honestly, it should be right at the top. It should be right at the top, along with regular sleep, and emotional and physical well-being, because all of these factors allow children to develop into the best that they can be. Deficits in these areas early on, can negatively affect a person’s development later on in life. More immediately, deficits in these areas can negatively affect academic achievement. If a student does not learn to read, write, and problem solve when it is taught, imagine that child’s chances of succeeding later on in life!
Children NEED healthy food to concentrate, to develop and maintain self-regulation, to have full function of their short and long term memory, and to ensure proper cognitive and behavioural functioning necessary for academic achievement.
Here are some of the comments I received after the intervention:
I never liked fish, but I tried your fish recipe from the menu and I actually liked it!
Thank you for helping me eat healthier, I want to keep it up cause I feel better.
I didn’t think I’d be able to eat healthy because I’m busy, but I used your snack ideas, and I did it!
Can you send me more easy recipes to eat healthier? I didn’t know it would taste so good!
I asked my mom to cook one of your recipes and it was really good!
Hi, I wasn’t in the intervention group, but I want to eat healthy now, so can you bring me a menu?
Given the time lines of an honors thesis, I was not able to continue working with these students, longer than the preset amount of time. I was able to stay in touch with a few through email, regularly sending new recipe ideas, and helping the students tear down the roadblocks to eating well.
I am now a qualified teacher, and continue to come across hungry and malnourished students. I have even come across breakfast programs which yes, feed the students, but feed them foods that will be processed by the body in less than half an hour. These foods are creating energy lows, and are thus actually creating a new barrier to learning. I’ve seen such caring staff run the breakfast programs, but through speaking with them, I realize that they just don’t understand the negative impact these enriched foods are having on the students.
Providing our children with nutritious food is crucial. It is necessary, and the implications of doing so are endless. Everyone can increase their overall wellbeing through healthy eating. It is my mission to help people eat nutritiously. This means I will be addressing the barriers that can make healthy eating difficult, and even seem impossible at times. My involvement in the school system, along with my ongoing research, has allowed me to gain the insight I will need to address these issues successfully.
Through this blog, I will be providing recipes and tools which address healthy eating challenges such as:
Lacking time
Lacking money
Large families, and little time
Lack of experience cooking
Busy lives
And more…
If you have a challenge that has kept you from eating healthy, and you would like me to address this here or through email, please feel free to email me at:
Stay tuned for recipes, strategies, and more information on the benefits of eating healthy!
I look forward to working with you to give you and our students the best chance for success!
-Michelle Eisen BSc., MA in Child Study and Education
Follow @Feed2Succeed
