Feeding Young Minds: The Importance Of School Lunches

June 06, 2017

ARE Associate Professor Michael Anderson is highlighted in this NY Times article on the critical impact of adequate food and good nutrition on academic success.

"Students at schools that contract with a healthy school lunch vendor score higher" on statewide achievement tests, Anderson and colleagues reported in a study released in April. Their study found a 4-percentile improvement in test scores when students were fed healthier lunches. "While this effect is modest in magnitude, the relatively low cost of healthy vendors when compared to in-house meal preparation makes this a very cost-effective way to raise test scores," they said.