Sugar Free Schools!

Who thought reading and math scores were related to sugar? How about natural weight loss for elementary aged children? Studies all over the world are showing that sugar free schools reap untold benefits for our children.

Sugar free schools are cropping up in the most unlikely places. At Hjerteberg School in the town of Stege 100 km south of Copenhagen, sweets and sugary snacks have been persona non-grata since the school year began in August. After nearly five months with the no-sweets policy, both teachers and pupils alike say that despite a tough time getting used to the policy, the school day has become a more relaxed affair.

Yvonne Sanders-Butler, the principal at Brown-Mills Elementary School in Lithonia, Georgia completely banned all sugar from school premises and within a year, not only had many students lost weight, but:

• visits to the school nurse were down 30 percent
  
• disciplinary problems dropped 20 percent.
  
• And test scores improved 10 percent to 15 percent.

And that's not all that has changed.

"They are taking responsibility for their health and their lifestyle," Butler said. "This is something that they learn at this school but they will take with them for the rest of their lives."

These two examples are simple yet remarkable. Removing sugar from schools might be a simple solution to several elusive measures, such as focus, discipline, and raising test scores.

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