Food & Learninig

affect children's abilities to calm, organize and increase attentiveness.

While sweet foods can have a calming effect, sour flavors may cause variant levels of alertness.

The movement required to eat particular foods can follow a similar hierarchy. Sucking (on candy, bottle or finger) is calming, chewing (on candy, gum, bagel or eraser) is organizing, and crunching (on pretzels, carrot sticks, or a pencil) has been shown to increase attentiveness in children.

There are many foods and nonfoods, in each area, that are in the following list. These can be helpful for planning snacks and ideas for your children.

Chewy foods (organizing)  - granola bars, fruit leather, dried fruit, bagels, cheese, and gum

Crunchy foods (alerting) - popcorn, raw veggies, crackers, pretzels, apples, pears, nuts

Sucking foods (calming) - hard candy, frozen novelties, peanut butter

Alerting will increase attention and levels of arousal required for learning.