Mental Health and Healthy Nutrition
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Schools play a vital role in students’ nutrition, through providing snacks and refreshments, breakfast and lunch programs, and in teaching nutritional information as part of the Health curriculum. Nutrition is a key element in students’ mental health. Schools can support students’ physical and mental well-being by promoting system-wide healthy nutrition policies.
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Schools play a vital role in students’ nutrition, through providing snacks and refreshments, breakfast and lunch programs, and in teaching nutritional information as part of the Health curriculum. Nutrition is a key element in students’ mental health. Schools can support students’ physical and mental well-being by promoting system-wide healthy nutrition policies.
The effect of nutrition on mental health can be divided into two major categories. The first encompasses the nutritional excesses, deficiencies and toxins that negatively impact mental health, and the second is the nutritional intake that promotes optimal mental health.
The American diet is, unfortunately, a major contributor to health and mental health problems. Sweets and desserts, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, salty snacks and fruit flavored drinks comprise approximately 30 percent of all calories consumed by adult Americans. 37% of energy is derived from fat. Factoring out adult alcohol use, children and adolescents have similar, if not worse, eating habits than adults.
Obesity
Obesity is defined by a BMI (Body Mass Index) that is over the 95th percentile for age and sex, and more than 15% of American youth aged 6-19, more than 10% of children age 2-5, and more than 23% of non-Hispanic black and Mexican American adolescents are obese. The prevalence of child and adolescent obesity has doubled to tripled in the last twenty years.
As many as 94% of obese children and adolescents suffer from a sleep abnormality, most often sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can lead to daytime sleepiness, cognitive difficulties and altered mood. Adjustment Disorder arising from being taunted and discriminated against is common. Psychopathology is common in chronically obese children and adolescents, suggesting that obesity increases the risk of developing a mental health disorder. Obese pediatric patients have higher rates of anxiety, depression and eating disorders than the general population, with over half having at least one mental health diagnosis, a third having anxiety disorders and a fifth having mood disorders. Chronic obesity is associated with oppositional defiant disorder in boys and girls and depressive disorders in boys.
Environmental toxins
Of more than 80,000 registered chemicals and more than 900 pesticides, only 12 have been tested for toxicity to the developing brain, using the Environmental Protection Agency’s only validated test for such effects. Analyses of newborn babies’ cord blood have identified a total of 287 chemicals, including pesticides, consumer product ingredients, and wastes from burning coal, gasoline, and garbage. Of the 287 chemicals, 180 are known to cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests. Bisphenol A, used in plastic baby bottles, has been linked to damage in developing brain tissue.
Pesticides
Pesticides have neurotoxic effects. Children have proportionately greater dietary exposures to pesticides than adults. In addition to being proportionately more heavily exposed to pesticides than adults, infants and children have greater biological vulnerability to them as well. Children's metabolic pathways, especially in the first months after birth, are immature compared to those of adults, and fetuses, infants, and children are less able to detoxify chemicals such as organophosphate pesticides. This results in greater vulnerability and risk of disruption of normal developmental processes. Young children’s disproportionately high exposure to pesticides and their developmental vulnerabilities put them at increased risk of neurological, endocrine and other developmental disabilities.
Mercury
Many children and adolescents are exposed to amounts of mercury that are toxic. Mercury enters the environment through emissions from burning fossil fuels containing trace amounts of mercury, emissions from the disposal, use, or manufacture of mercury-containing products or industrial wastes, and incidental emissions from processing mineral resources containing mercury (e.g., lead, taconite or copper ores, and limestone.
Mercury's harmful effects in utero can include brain damage, mental retardation, incoordination, blindness, seizures, and inability to speak. The effects on infants born to mothers with mild exposure to methylmercury are mainly neurological, including depressed intelligence, delayed developmental milestones, and altered muscle tone and tendon reflexes.
Fish are a significant source of mercury, and mercury is concentrated in higher amounts, the higher a fish is along the food chain. Pregnant women and children under age 15 should never eat shark, swordfish, tile fish or king mackerel, and should have no more than two meals a month of canned white tuna.
Food Additives and Sugar
Food colorings such as sunset yellow, carmoisine, tartrazine, ponceau, quinolin, yellow and allura red, as well as the preservative, sodium benzoate, have been
found to increase hyperactivity in some children. Antigen and additive free diets have been shown to be helpful in improving behaviors in pre-school hyperactive
children. Cognitive functioning, including attention and learning ability, have been shown to be adversely affected by high sugar, high carbohydrate breakfasts.
Deficiency States and Supplementation
Although American children and adolescents tend to have diets that are abundant in calories, due to the amount of “empty” non-nutritive calories and lack of a well balanced diet, many experience malnutrition. Malnutrition predisposes to neurocognitive deficits, which in turn predispose to persistent externalizing behavior problems throughout childhood and adolescence.
Vitamin deficiencies can lead to mental health problems. Vitamin B6 is needed for the synthesis of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. The symptoms of B6 deficiency may include depression and irritability. Vitamin B3 deficiency can cause aggression, insomnia, mental confusion and dementia.
Essential fatty acids (EFAs) cannot be synthesized by the body and must be obtained from the diet. Sources of the two types (omega 3 and omega 6) are fish, hemp oil, canola oil soya oil, flaxseed, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds walnuts and leafy vegetables.
Omega-3 fatty acids are known to play a role in neuroplasticity of nerve membranes, synaptogenesis and synaptic transmission, memory-related learning and cognitive development. Low Omega 3 levels in children have been associated with behavioral, learning and sleep problems. Supplementation with EFAs has shown promise for children who have ADHD. Use of Omega 3 supplementation has demonstrated efficacy for adult depression and bipolar mood disorder; no definitive studies have demonstrated this effect for children or adolescents.
S-Adenosyl methionine (SAMe) is sold in the U.S. as a food supplement. It is a coenzyme involved in methyl group transfers, functioning as a precursor to methylation, aminopropylation and transulfuration pathways, and is an intermediate in the synthesis of the neurotransmitters, norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine. SAMe has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of adult depression; results are pending for child and adolescent depression.
Healthy diets and mental health
Modifying children’s menus to eliminate refined carbohydrates and to substitute fresh fruits and juices, whole wheat flour, honey and unprocessed foods in place of sugary drinks and processed flour and other foods has demonstrated significant improvements in elementary school children’s learning patterns and behavior.
The effect of nutrition on mental health can be divided into two major categories. The first encompasses the nutritional excesses, deficiencies and toxins that negatively impact mental health, and the second is the nutritional intake that promotes optimal mental health.
The American diet is, unfortunately, a major contributor to health and mental health problems. Sweets and desserts, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, salty snacks and fruit flavored drinks comprise approximately 30 percent of all calories consumed by adult Americans. 37% of energy is derived from fat. Factoring out adult alcohol use, children and adolescents have similar, if not worse, eating habits than adults.
Obesity
Obesity is defined by a BMI (Body Mass Index) that is over the 95th percentile for age and sex, and more than 15% of American youth aged 6-19, more than 10% of children age 2-5, and more than 23% of non-Hispanic black and Mexican American adolescents are obese. The prevalence of child and adolescent obesity has doubled to tripled in the last twenty years.
As many as 94% of obese children and adolescents suffer from a sleep abnormality, most often sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can lead to daytime sleepiness, cognitive difficulties and altered mood. Adjustment Disorder arising from being taunted and discriminated against is common. Psychopathology is common in chronically obese children and adolescents, suggesting that obesity increases the risk of developing a mental health disorder. Obese pediatric patients have higher rates of anxiety, depression and eating disorders than the general population, with over half having at least one mental health diagnosis, a third having anxiety disorders and a fifth having mood disorders. Chronic obesity is associated with oppositional defiant disorder in boys and girls and depressive disorders in boys.
Environmental toxins
Of more than 80,000 registered chemicals and more than 900 pesticides, only 12 have been tested for toxicity to the developing brain, using the Environmental Protection Agency’s only validated test for such effects. Analyses of newborn babies’ cord blood have identified a total of 287 chemicals, including pesticides, consumer product ingredients, and wastes from burning coal, gasoline, and garbage. Of the 287 chemicals, 180 are known to cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests. Bisphenol A, used in plastic baby bottles, has been linked to damage in developing brain tissue.
Pesticides
Pesticides have neurotoxic effects. Children have proportionately greater dietary exposures to pesticides than adults. In addition to being proportionately more heavily exposed to pesticides than adults, infants and children have greater biological vulnerability to them as well. Children's metabolic pathways, especially in the first months after birth, are immature compared to those of adults, and fetuses, infants, and children are less able to detoxify chemicals such as organophosphate pesticides. This results in greater vulnerability and risk of disruption of normal developmental processes. Young children’s disproportionately high exposure to pesticides and their developmental vulnerabilities put them at increased risk of neurological, endocrine and other developmental disabilities.
Mercury
Many children and adolescents are exposed to amounts of mercury that are toxic. Mercury enters the environment through emissions from burning fossil fuels containing trace amounts of mercury, emissions from the disposal, use, or manufacture of mercury-containing products or industrial wastes, and incidental emissions from processing mineral resources containing mercury (e.g., lead, taconite or copper ores, and limestone.
Mercury's harmful effects in utero can include brain damage, mental retardation, incoordination, blindness, seizures, and inability to speak. The effects on infants born to mothers with mild exposure to methylmercury are mainly neurological, including depressed intelligence, delayed developmental milestones, and altered muscle tone and tendon reflexes.
Fish are a significant source of mercury, and mercury is concentrated in higher amounts, the higher a fish is along the food chain. Pregnant women and children under age 15 should never eat shark, swordfish, tile fish or king mackerel, and should have no more than two meals a month of canned white tuna.
Food Additives and Sugar
Food colorings such as sunset yellow, carmoisine, tartrazine, ponceau, quinolin, yellow and allura red, as well as the preservative, sodium benzoate, have been
found to increase hyperactivity in some children. Antigen and additive free diets have been shown to be helpful in improving behaviors in pre-school hyperactive
children. Cognitive functioning, including attention and learning ability, have been shown to be adversely affected by high sugar, high carbohydrate breakfasts.
Deficiency States and Supplementation
Although American children and adolescents tend to have diets that are abundant in calories, due to the amount of “empty” non-nutritive calories and lack of a well balanced diet, many experience malnutrition. Malnutrition predisposes to neurocognitive deficits, which in turn predispose to persistent externalizing behavior problems throughout childhood and adolescence.
Vitamin deficiencies can lead to mental health problems. Vitamin B6 is needed for the synthesis of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. The symptoms of B6 deficiency may include depression and irritability. Vitamin B3 deficiency can cause aggression, insomnia, mental confusion and dementia.
Essential fatty acids (EFAs) cannot be synthesized by the body and must be obtained from the diet. Sources of the two types (omega 3 and omega 6) are fish, hemp oil, canola oil soya oil, flaxseed, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds walnuts and leafy vegetables.
Omega-3 fatty acids are known to play a role in neuroplasticity of nerve membranes, synaptogenesis and synaptic transmission, memory-related learning and cognitive development. Low Omega 3 levels in children have been associated with behavioral, learning and sleep problems. Supplementation with EFAs has shown promise for children who have ADHD. Use of Omega 3 supplementation has demonstrated efficacy for adult depression and bipolar mood disorder; no definitive studies have demonstrated this effect for children or adolescents.
S-Adenosyl methionine (SAMe) is sold in the U.S. as a food supplement. It is a coenzyme involved in methyl group transfers, functioning as a precursor to methylation, aminopropylation and transulfuration pathways, and is an intermediate in the synthesis of the neurotransmitters, norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine. SAMe has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of adult depression; results are pending for child and adolescent depression.
Healthy diets and mental health
Modifying children’s menus to eliminate refined carbohydrates and to substitute fresh fruits and juices, whole wheat flour, honey and unprocessed foods in place of sugary drinks and processed flour and other foods has demonstrated significant improvements in elementary school children’s learning patterns and behavior.
Recommendations
A healthy diet is part of a healthy lifestyle, and it contributes to physical and mental health. Schools can support students’ healthy diets by promoting the following activities:
A healthy diet is part of a healthy lifestyle, and it contributes to physical and mental health. Schools can support students’ healthy diets by promoting the following activities:
- Regular exercise
- Providing a plant-based diet (whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats such as canola and olive oil)
- Eliminate toxins and pesticides in students’ dietary intake as much as possible
- Avoiding the typical American diet of sugary drinks, salty snacks, red meat, refined carbohydrates, food additives, etc.
- Promoting intake of all essential vitamins and essential fatty acids, either directly through the diet, or with supplementation. Given the risk of mercury exposure, fish oil capsules may be a better alternative for children and adolescents.
Schools have the potential, through the food and beverages made available to students, to support student mental health, or conversely, to unwittingly contribute to students’ mental health difficulties that can adversely affect their behavior and academic performance. An increasing number of school districts are recognizing this fact, and are working to promote students’ physical and mental health through healthy nutritional practices.
Further ReadingsParker, G., (2006). Omega-3 fatty acids and mood disorders. Am JPsychiatry.163(6):969-78.
Pelsser, L, et. Al (2011). Effects of a restricted elimination diet on the behaviour of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (INCA study): a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, Vol. 377, 494 – 503 Rosen, L. A. et al, (1988). Effects of sugar (sucrose) on children’s behavior. Consulting Clinical Psychology, 56:583-9 Stoll, A., (1999). Omega 3 fatty acids in bipolar disorder: a preliminary double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 56(5):407-12. Williams, A., (2005). S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) as treatment for depression: a systematic review. Clin Invest Med. 28(3):132-9. |
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