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Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education

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Physically active lessons multiply academic success

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It used to be that students were told to "sit still and pay attention." New research suggests that kids who are active while they are studying, actually learn better.

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How stress affects your body - Sharon Horesh Bergquist

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Our hard-wired stress response is designed to give us the quick burst of heightened alertness and energy needed to perform our best. But stress isn't all good. When activated too long or too often, stress can damage virtually every part of our body.

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A lot of Ontario teens are feeling anxious and depressed, and their numbers have grown. That's the take-away from a large-scale study that's been tracking students in the province for the last 20 years. One-third of the students in the survey were found to have moderate to severe symptoms of psychological distress - an alarming leap from two years earlier, when only one-quarter of students met the same threshold.

Now comes the hard part: figuring out why high schoolers are increasingly describing their lives as overwhelming, anxiety-inducing and stress-filled, and how to help them early because the higher up the grades you go, the worse the situation tends to get. Grade 12s, for instance, were four times more likely than Grade 7s to report high levels of stress, and more than twice as likely to rate their mental health as fair or poor. Older teens were significantly more likely to think about suicide. Yet they were no more likely than younger teens to seek help.

That's a worrisome trend, especially for teenagers about to make the leap out of the relatively safe confines of high school and into adulthood.

"Most of us consider the adolescent years the peak of your life - your life is ahead of you, the world is your oyster - but that seems not to be the case," said Robert Mann, a head researcher on the survey, conducted by the Toronto-based Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

"Given that you are shaping the rest of your life in adolescence, it's important for us to understand what the challenges teens are dealing with."
Open Minds: Only one in five young people get the help they need. There is a better way.
The study was based on responses by 10,426 students from Grades 7 to 12 in 220 schools across the province. Researchers scored psychological stress, based on a well-known assessment, by asking students how often in the last four weeks they had experienced certain symptoms: feeling nervous, or hopeless, or worthless, or so depressed that nothing could cheer them up. Overall, 14 per cent of students met the bar for "serious" psychological distress - an increase from 10 per cent in 2013.

Gender adds another layer to the story: On most measures, girls were significantly more likely to report problems than boys. And while more students are reporting stress and other mental-health issues, over all, the percentage who reported thinking seriously about suicide is roughly the same, at 12 per cent, as in 2001.

The study presents data but doesn't draw conclusions. For instance, Grade 12 students were three times less likely to be getting a full night's sleep and less likely to be exercising - factors that affect mental health. They spent significantly more time sitting in front of a screen and more time on social media - behaviour that has also been linked to mental-health issues. By Grade 12, nearly 23 per cent of students were spending five or more hours on social media, more than twice as much as in Grade 7. (By comparison, the percentage of students who reported being bullied, either online and in person, held steady across grades. Nearly one-quarter said they had been bullied in school since September; roughly one-fifth said they had experienced cyberbullying in the last year.)

A recent project by The Globe and Mail that explored the attitudes and habits of Grade 12 students in Canada found that older teens are also worried about student debt and the job market, and feeling overwhelmed by the demands of social media, and even a diminished sense of safety in a world plagued by bombings, shootings and attacks on innocent civilians. "If we think about what life is like, it seems fairly depressing," Dr. Mann says, and certainly, "nastier than the one their parents grew up with."
Open Minds: How to fix Canada's mental health system
Many of these stress-inducing factors are beyond the control of any mental-health strategy. But early intervention and school-based education have worked before, Dr. Mann points out. For instance, he says, substance abuse among teenagers has fallen significantly over the two decades - a result he partly attributes to raised awareness about the risks of drugs and alcohol.

Stan Kutcher, a Dalhousie University psychiatrist who specializes in adolescent mental health, fervently agrees that teenagers need to improve their mental-health literacy. He suggests that what's really rising is the percentage of students struggling to manage the stress of everyday life. "We are creating generations of kids who think life has to be stress-free," he argues. "We have not been teaching them how to solve the problems causing the stress."

Life, social media, poor coping skills or clinical mental illness - whatever is going on, when so many teenagers feel miserable, Dr. Mann says, "that needs attention." This is not a question of whether the kids are all right. Many are struggling - and, in this survey, they have told us so.

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Number of Ontario teens with psychological distress rising at alarming rate: study

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A lot of Ontario teens are feeling anxious and depressed, and their numbers have grown. That's the take-away from a large-scale study that's been tracking students in the province for the last 20 years.

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Does being in nature have healing powers? The Japanese believe that 'Shinrin-yoku' or 'forest bathing', a contemplative walk through the woods, can lead to decreased stress, natural mood elevation and even a stronger immune system.

Qing Li, the president of the Japanese Society of Forest Medicine and senior professor at Nippon Medical School in Toyko places electrodes on Jennifer Gardy's brain to measure her frontal lobe brain activity during her forest walk. The next day, she meets Li in downtown Tokyo to run the same test in the city - and the difference is remarkable.

For more future technology, watch Dreams of the Future.

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Does being in nature have healing powers? The Japanese believe that 'Shinrin-yoku' or 'forest bathing', a contemplative walk through the woods, can lead to decreased stress, natural mood elevation and even a stronger immune system.

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The Heart and Stroke Foundation Owes Canadian Parents an Apology

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Our national food guide, in long need of repair, is finally getting an overhaul. It needs a lot more than a tune-up to catch up with scientific evidence on diet and health and what - and how - Canadians eat.

Today, six out of 10 Canadian adults are overweight or obese, as are one-third of kids. According to Health Canada, four out of five Canadians are at risk for developing heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and certain cancers, leading causes of death which are largely preventable by making positive lifestyle choices, such as eating a healthy diet.

Yet Canada's Food Guide, last updated in 2007, has been ineffective at stemming the rise in obesity and diet-related health issues, the very things it was designed to do.

Our opinions count, which is why after Health Minister Jane Philpott announced the plan last week, the government also asked Canadians to weigh in online.

Wearing my dietitian hat, I logged on and offered my two cents.

I certainly don't have all the answers as to what an ideal food guide should look like. But based on current evidence connecting food and nutrition to personal and planetary health, here's a page from my wish list.
Keep it simple
The current food guide was designed to help people meet daily requirements for vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. That's why a 40-year-old woman, for example, is advised to eat seven to eight daily servings of fruit and vegetables, six to seven grain products, two milk and alternatives and two meat and alternatives.

To figure out how much food that is, you need to look at the examples listed for one serving - e.g., one-half cup of broccoli, 30 grams of cold cereal, one-half cup of cooked pasta, 2.5 ounces of chicken, 175 millilitres of yogurt, 1.5 ounces of cheese. Then, you can divvy up your food-guide servings into meals and snacks.

In my opinion, the food guide is cumbersome to put into practice. It seems more like a tool developed for dietitians, not for the mom trying to feed her family healthy food.

I'd like to see a food guide that directs people to whole foods rather than nutrients. The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, for instance, does a good job of this. Foods to "base every meal on," such as fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and herbs and spices, are highlighted at the base of the pyramid. Meat and sweets, sitting on the top, are to be eaten "less often."
Remove the focus on meat
Yes, meat is an exceptional source of protein.

So are poultry, fish, legumes, tofu, eggs, nuts and seeds, foods also listed in the "Meat and Alternatives" food group.

But meat shouldn't be viewed as comparable - or superior - to these foods.

Red meat is implicated in colorectal cancer, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, not to mention the fact that beef production puts a huge strain on the environment.

The name "Meat and Alternatives" doesn't reflect our current understanding of the impact of red meat on human health and the environment. It's time for the food guide to downsize its importance in our diet.

If Health Canada designs the next guide around nutrient-based food groups again, this food group should be renamed to "Protein Foods" (as is the case for the U.S. food guide, MyPlate).
Highlight calcium-rich foods, not milk
Most dairy products are an excellent source of calcium, a mineral that's vital to health. No argument there.

But milk isn't the only food that delivers calcium. So do edamame, tofu, pinto beans, almond butter, tahini, many cooked leafy green vegetables, blackstrap molasses and fortified plant beverages.

If a calcium-rich food group is deemed important, expand it beyond dairy.

Doing so could help Canadians do a better job at meeting daily calcium requirements. (According to the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey, many of our diets fall short on calcium, despite the food guide's consistent promotion of dairy.)

I'd also remove the advice to "have two cups of milk every day." The evidence is weak, at best, that doing so prevents bone fractures.
Give clear advice on processed foods
Brazil's Ministry of Health got it right when, in 2014, it issued new dietary guidelines. The country's golden rules for healthy eating: "Always prefer natural or minimally processed foods" and "avoid ultraprocessed foods."

Our next food guide needs to include a strong message about avoiding highly processed foods to help Canadians consume less added sugars, trans fat, saturated fat, sodium, artificial flavours and colours, and fewer calories.
Advise us on how to eat
The food guide should also address the context in which we eat. One of Brazil's 10 Steps to a Healthy Diet is to "eat regularly and carefully in appropriate environments and in company."

Recommending that Canadians eat at home as often as possible, with family and friends, would encourage people to eat home-cooked meals made from whole and minimally processed foods.

Eating in this way also provides an opportunity for parents to pass on cooking skills to their children.
Leslie Beck, a registered dietitian, is based at the Medisys clinic in Toronto

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Leslie Beck: My wish list for Canada's new food guide

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Our national food guide, in long need of repair, is finally getting an overhaul. It needs a lot more than a tune-up to catch up with scientific evidence on diet and health and what - and how - Canadians eat. Today, six out of 10 Canadian adults are overweight or obese, as are one-third of kids.

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Canada has a lot to learn from the "cultural norms" of other countries when it comes to active kids, says a new global comparison of 38 countries published today based on the annual Participaction Report Card on Physicial Activity for Children and Youth.

That report card has already given Canadian kids an F for sedentary behaviour, a D- in overall physical activity and a D+ for active play, in Participaction's annual release last summer.

Now, a series of reports published today in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health ranks 37 other countries on the same criteria, and show we have lessons to learn from Zimbabwe, Slovenia and New Zealand, among others.

While the most active countries differ in context and approach, "physical activity is driven by pervasive cultural norms," said lead author Dr. Mark Tremblay of Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa in a release.

"Being active is not just a choice but a way of life."

'Paradox' of infrastructure

The report cites a " paradox" in many countries, including Canada, where good infrastructure, government programs and organized sports are not associated with high levels of daily activity.

"The findings are rather concerning," said Mariana Brussoni, an associate professor in the department of Pediatrics at the University of B.C., who worked on the Participaction report card.

"Basically, what we're finding is that Canada is doing quite badly in terms of physical activity lately."

Conversely, kids in countries with poorer infrastructure - such as Zimbabwe, with an F in the "built environment" category - had lower sedentary behaviour and higher levels of activity.

It's not that Zimbabwean children are playing a lot - the report from that country found they're not. But by necessity, about 80 per cent are walking to school, not driving.

"A lot of kids in Zimbabwe don't have access to cars," said Brussoni.

Slovenia, New Zealand top list for physical activity

The top grade for physical activity went to Slovenia (A-) followed by New Zealand (B-) and Zimbabwe (C+).

In Slovenia, more than three-quarters of school-age kids are getting the recommended 60 minutes of heart-pumping physical activity per day - compared to just nine per cent in Canada.

A key difference: Slovenia builds physical fitness into school time, through a national program and tests them each year, said Brussoni.

"If it looks like they need more, then they actually move up the amount of physical activity."

The Netherlands, famous for its cycle-friendly culture, got the highest score for active transportation and ranked among the highest for active play.

"If you want to get around, you just get on your bike," said Brussoni.

And in New Zealand, there was a lot of playing outside - or as that country's report called it, "mucking around."

Brussoni, who studies child injury prevention and outdoor play, hopes Canada can learn from that.

"We need to provide kids much more freedom in terms of their independent mobility to be able to go out and play, be outside unsupervised and so on."

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Canadian kids among least active in the world | CBC News

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Canada has a lot to learn from the "cultural norms" of other countries when it comes to active kids, says a new global comparison of 38 countries published today based on the annual Participaction Report Card on Physicial Activity for Children and Youth.

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Heavy Screen Time Rewires Young Brains, For Better And Worse - Flipboard

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NPR - There's new evidence that excessive screen time early in life can change the circuits in a growing brain. Scientists disagree, though, about whether those changes are helpful, or just cause problems. Both views emerged during the Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego this week. The debate ...

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Editor's Note: Some of the research by Brian Wansink highlighted in this article comes from published papers that have since been retracted, corrected or flagged, after an investigation by Cornell University. The investigation found evidence of academic misconduct in Wansink's published research, and several journals have retracted, corrected or expressed concerns about his work.
We know surprisingly little about what we want to eat, and why. Researcher Brian Wansink has been leading thousands of studies to understand more.

Two decades ago, Brian Wansink accidentally hit on a revelation that would change the course of his career. He and his graduate students (he was a professor at Wharton at the time) were running a study on sustainable food packaging. In the middle of giving free bags of snacks to Philadelphia moviegoers to see if they noticed they ate more from big packages, they ran out of big bags and had to revert to teeny ones that held just 110 calories. And here's what they found: People with four tiny bags ate half as much as those with one big 440-calorie bag - and said they'd pay 20 percent more for snacks if companies sold them in smaller packages. "So here's the punch line," he says: "You can make more money by selling less food."

Since then, Wansink - now a professor of applied economics and management at Cornell, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, and author of books including Slim by Design - has run 1,200 studies, by his estimate, on eating behaviors. It turns out we are utterly at the mercy of our environment.

We know far less about our own eating habits than we think. Wansink has found that we make many more decisions about food than we're aware of - typically more than 200 per day. You don't just choose whether to eat cereal or eggs, or even which cereal to eat. You also choose how much cereal to pour, how much milk to add, whether to finish the bowl, whether to have seconds. "There's all these decisions that we don't even code," he says.

All of these decisions are subject to environmental cues. "Most people think they're master and commander of their own diet," Wansink says. But contrary to popular belief (and a whole lot of New Year's resolutions), he's found that healthy eating has very little to do with willpower. In one study, Wansink and his colleagues set up a table in which two out of four bowls of soup continually refilled from an apparatus hidden underneath the table. Participants given the self-refilling bowls ate 73 percent more, but didn't feel any more sated. "We tend to eat with our eyes and not our stomach, because our stomach is a crude measure of how much we've eaten," Wansink explains.

Size matters. Ever heard of the " small plate movement"? That's all Wansink. In study after study, he has found that the bigger the plate, the more we eat. This stems from an optical illusion - the same amount of food on a bigger plate looks smaller - as well as changes in consumption norms and our decreased ability to estimate calories in larger portions. Even educating people about the effects of using a bigger plate has no effect on how much they eat. This goes for beverages, too: even professional bartenders pour more into a short, wide glass than a tall, skinny one of equal volume.

Color matters. Just as we can be tricked by the size of a plate, we can be tricked by its color. In one study, people who ate off plates the same color as their food (pasta with Alfredo sauce on a white plate, or with marinara sauce on a red plate) served themselves 22 percent more than those randomly assigned to color-contrast dining. "When a person serves themselves, they're not even really looking at what they're serving. It's usually in the peripheral part of their vision," Wansink says. "One thing about the periphery is if something isn't high-contrast, it blurs even more into the background."

Visibility matters. The more you see, the more you eat. We eat twice as many candies from a clear container than from an opaque one. But this phenomenon can work for you, too - if you put healthy foods in sight. Wansink and co. photographed over 200 American women's kitchens and found that those who had cereal on the counter weighed 20 pounds more than those who didn't and those who had soft drinks out weighed 24 to 26 pounds more - but women with even a single piece of fruit out weighed an average of 13 pounds less. "It's a powerful testimony about our 'see-food' diet," Wansink says - har, har.

Placement matters. Not only do we eat more candy out of a clear container, but we eat more when it's close by: just moving the container from the desk to six feet away noticeably reduces the amount people eat. But there are subtler effects of placement, too. A study of 213 patrons of an all-you-can-eat buffet found that those with lower BMIs were likelier to sit facing away from the food. And it turns out that where you sit in a restaurant can really impact what you order: Wansink's research indicates that people who sit farthest from the front door eat fewer salads and are much more likely to order dessert, while those sitting near a window or at a high-top table order more salads and fewer desserts - likely, Wansink believes, because they feel more on display.

Surroundings matter. Our susceptibility to cues other than hunger to determine how much we eat goes beyond food, serving implements and even our situation in the restaurant to the very room we eat in. Wansink and his colleague transformed half of a Hardees into a fine-dining restaurant by dimming the lights and playing softer, slower music, and found that diners ate less, more slowly, and with more satisfaction.

But most of us simply do not believe the environment holds such power over our eating habits. "We all believe we're smarter than a bowl. We all believe we're smarter than the plate in front of us," Wansink says. But in truth, chalking it up to our environment can release a lot of guilt, and be a huge relief. "It's easier to be slim by design than to be slim by willpower," he says. If you tweak your environment, it "ends up being done once, and typically follows you for the rest of your life."
Photo: Stocksy. [Editor's note, as of March 2018: Brian Wansink has been criticized for data inconsistencies in his research, and Cornell University is currently conducting an investigation.]

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Want to eat well? Forget about willpower

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Editor's Note: Some of the research by Brian Wansink highlighted in this article comes from published papers that have since been retracted, corrected or flagged, after an investigation by Cornell University. The investigation found evidence of academic misconduct in Wansink's published research, and several journals have retracted, corrected or expressed concerns about his work.