Schools serve up Atkins-style diets to boost FCAT scores

By Lois K. Solomon
Education Writer
Posted February 14 2004

Say it with me, kids. Protein: Yay! Carbs: Boo!

Schools in Palm Beach and Broward counties will put their students on Atkins-style diets in the coming weeks, hoping reduced carbohydrate consumption is the key to higher standardized-test scores

Verde Elementary School in Boca Raton plans to take pizza off the lunch menu and will add a chicken dish. Teachers have been asked not to serve cookies on testing days. Students will get bacon and eggs, cheese sticks and water; no high-sugar juice allowed.

Boca Raton High School plans to offer protein bars with milk before the morning exams. At Atlantic High in Delray Beach, students can still get juice, but also will be able to select protein bars, cheese and fruit.

"I thought the faculty would moan about this, but they embraced it," Verde Principal Jon Prince said. "Half of them are on Atkins anyway."

The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests in math and reading begin on March 1. Students' scores on these exams help determine their school's grade from the state.

If their school tallies an A or an improved grade, the school gets extra money. Students whose schools score humiliating F grades for two years in a row are allowed to transfer out.

The pressure to perform well has forced schools to tinker with teaching methods, amount of playground time and time spent in elective classes -- as well as school menus.

Principals who are altering their menus said they were responding to an FCAT pep talk given recently by Marcus Conyers, founder of BrainSMART, a consulting company that seeks to help educators improve student performance.

The Atkins diet advocates a high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate eating plan. Conyers does not encourage lots of fat, but said eating protein stimulates dopamine, a neurotransmitter that raises alertness levels.

Teachers have known for years that students get a sugar rush from high-carbohydrate foods and then become irritable later, Conyers said. If schools reduce the carbohydrates students ingest, he said, behavior as well as test scores likely will improve.

"Dopamine is the fuel of attention," he said. "Whatever gets in the stomach first has the biggest impact."

Broward County schools also are emphasizing pre-FCAT protein, food services director Ray Papa said. He said he made sure students have a high-protein choice on nine of 10 FCAT days, compared to six of 10 on a traditional cycle.

High-protein breakfast choices will include chicken and sausage patties, scrambled eggs and egg-and-cheese pockets, Papa said. He said his menu modification is a response to requests from principals.

High-protein lunches, however, aren't a major issue in Broward's elementary and middle schools because the FCAT usually is finished before lunch. But students, especially those on the free- and reduced-price meal programs, are encouraged to eat breakfast at school.

At Sunrise Middle School, where any child can have a free breakfast on FCAT days, "we encourage them to eat here if they haven't eaten at home, especially around test-taking time," Principal Rebecca Dahl said.

"And many of our teachers bring in fruit, or encourage children to bring in fruit" to eat in the mid-morning break between test sessions, Dahl said.

Nutritionists agree that children should reduce their carb consumption, but there is little research on specific foods' link with high test scores.

Richard and Judith Wurtman, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who have investigated the effects of foods on mood, found a protein-only meal boosts amino acids, which produce the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine, nicknamed "mental adrenaline."

Carbohydrates increase levels of serotonin, which makes people feel calm and are often recommended before bedtime, said Sheah Rarback, a nutritionist at the University of Miami.

Rarback said a high-protein breakfast could give students not only a physical boost but a psychological edge, too.

"It's fine for one meal," Rarback said. "The principal can say, `This is a power breakfast to make you stay alert for the FCAT.'"

Schools across the United States have been experimenting with an assortment of culinary tactics to improve test scores. A University of Florida study found many school districts serve high-calorie junk food, such as corn dogs and peanut butter crackers, to boost energy levels.

The study, which focused on 23 school districts in Virginia, found school lunches averaged 863 calories on test days, compared with 753 calories on exam-free days. Despite the food's low nutritional value, the calorie boost helped students perform better, the study showed.

Palm Beach County's Food Services Department has not changed its recommendations after learning about Conyers' talk with the principals, director Joan Smith said.

It still tells parents to make pre-FCAT breakfasts consisting of carbohydrates, protein and fat, even recommending such high-carb heresies as leftover pizza and crackers with cheese.

Many schools also plan to serve carb-filled breakfasts before the FCAT.

At Spanish River High in Boca Raton, students will get bagels and cream cheese with orange juice. At Boca Raton Middle School, students can get a ham-and-cheese bagel, oatmeal, fruit muffin, cereal or cinnamon toast. Village Academy in Delray Beach will serve pancakes and sausage with grits.

Santaluces High west of Lantana is taking its own unorthodox approach this year, offering students candy before the FCAT for the first time.

"We heard that peppermint is supposed to stimulate the mind," Principal Glenn Heyward said.

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