
Eating a healthy diet that provides each person with the food necessary to meet their nutritional needs is essential at any stage of life. Selecting those foods that best suit your conditions and leading a healthy lifestyle in many cases is the key to personal and professional success. Especially, in those ages in which one begins to have a first contact with the world of nutrition.
In order to achieve a good academic performance, at Casvi International American School we offer our students a balanced menu, based on the Mediterranean diet, which not only provides them with all the necessary nutrients, but also awakens their curiosity for the world of nutrition.
By creating healthy routines and habits, our teachers ensure that each student enjoys sitting at the table and knows the benefits of eating in the school cafeteria. The youngest students are taught how to eat, how to use the cutlery and to begin to have discipline during lunch. With the older children, workshops are held to teach them about healthy living habits. And for those with allergies or intolerances, a special menu is prepared so that they can follow a rich and balanced diet, always with the help of our own chefs.
In order to continue promoting the international mindset characteristic of the center, and for our students to get to know different cultures, we celebrate gastronomic days from other countries every year. In this way, the students not only have fun eating but also learn about the culture and way of life of other nationalities.
Marta Alonso, Head of the Guidance Department of the Casvi Group of Schools, tells us in this short interview the benefits of educating from an early age to eat healthily. She also points out the importance and repercussion of having a healthy lifestyle in the academic performance of each student.
Q. What are the main benefits of having a good diet?
A. Clearly a good diet has a direct impact on our state of health, and this has a direct impact on our energy and our mood. This is absolutely linked to a good performance in any field and of course, it could not be less, in the academic performance. We must bear in mind that the micronutrients, vitamins and minerals in many foods are what feed our brain.
Q. How does the type of food affect students’ studies and academic performance?
A. The lack of some minerals or vitamins has a direct impact on us. For example, a diet low in iron and vitamin D, will make us have fatigued students and as a consequence, it will be difficult for them to pay attention and be active in a given task.
“A good diet has a direct impact on our state of health, and this has a direct impact on our energy and our mood”
Q. Is it important to teach students to eat a variety of foods and to experiment with new types of food?
A. The best way to make our students see the need to eat a variety of foods is to make them see the repercussion this has on their physical and mental state, not by prohibiting food intake, but by increasing its variety and making them aware of the necessary, advisable and occasional foods, in such a way that they have an educated and critical attitude as the years go by.
Q. Is it necessary for students to have a specific eating routine?
A. Just as important as knowing how to select the right foods, is to have a proper routine, since not only our intellectual performance will depend on it, but also our physical performance and rest, which are a perfect complement to our overall intellectual development.