Facts and fallacies about nutrition and learning

The concerns of this group here today are: what are the key facts about the effect of nutrition on learning and behavior and what are their implications and challenges for the total school program.

Abstract

Editor's note: Some implications and challenges for a total school program; health service, classroom teaching, school feeding and parent and community involvement. Dr. Leverton presented this paper to the American Association of School Administrators, 101 st Annual Meeting. Feb. 19, 1969. Evidence is fast accumulating that nutrition can influence intellectual performance and learning. Nutrition can influence both the structure and the functioning of the brain and other structures of the complex central nervous system. I believe that the concerns of this group here today are: 1) what are the key facts about the effect of nutrition on learning and behavior and 2) what are their implications and challenges for the total school program. A foundation of such facts will enable us to recognize and deal appropriately with the fallacies that frequently confront us. The development and performance of the central nervous system are centered in the biochemistry of the nerve cells. The structural components of these cells, their metabolism of energy and nutrients, and their completeness of function are related to their nutritive supply over a time continuum. The relation between the supply of the needed building materials and the final structure and its ability to function is the same for the central nervous system as for other structures of the human body. Brain and nerve tissue are built and nourished by the same blood stream as bone and muscle. Any growing organism is more vulnerable to deprivation-a reduced supply of needed building materials-than one that has attained its rrowth. The more rapidly it is growing, the more vulnerable it is to deprivation. The more severe the deprivation, the greater will be the damage to the ultimate development.