The Impact of a Healthy Lunch on Your Child’s School Day

Your child’s school day can be impacted by many things, but did you know that nutrition is one of the biggest factors affecting how their day goes? When they aren’t properly fueled with nutritious food it can change the course of their entire day as well as how they respond to adversity.
Academic Benefits
Studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between the consumption of balanced, nutritious meals and higher achievement levels on assessments. This is partially due to the fact that when your body is kept in a nourished state your brain performs better. When your child has had a healthy, well-balanced lunch, it can keep their energy levels up so they avoid the mid-day energy slump they may experience otherwise. This allows them to maintain their focus in the afternoon and to retain more information during their lessons.

Behavioral Benefits
Aside from academic benefits, there are many behavioral benefits of a healthy lunch. If they aren’t getting the nutrients they need, your child is likely to experience a blood sugar drop mid-day. This can make them tired and cranky, which cause issues outside of academics. Falling asleep or being short with others can be a huge distraction from their studies, and it’s easily avoidable if they have a nutritious lunch mid-way through the day.

Another behavioral benefit of healthy lunches is that it builds lifelong healthy habits for your children. What child wouldn’t choose pizza and french fries for lunch every day if that’s an available option? By limiting unhealthy options and providing healthy food that is fresh and delicious, your child will learn about the positive effect this has on their overall health.

In recent years, the national school lunch program has worked towards improving their offerings. Including whole grains and fresh local goods as often as possible are a few of the steps they’ve taken, but since so many unhealthy options are available a la carte it hasn’t always been effective.

At St. Barnabas Episcopal School, we’ve partnered with WT Cafe to provide our students with fresh, nutritious lunches that will keep them alert and energized all day. Meals are freshly prepared each day using wholesome ingredients. These meals are kid friendly without being your standard “kid” fare, such as chicken nuggets and hot dogs. Since each meal is prepared from scratch in a controlled environment they are extremely allergy friendly. Making them safe for your child, even if they have severe food allergies.

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