Chew Gum, Improve Your Grades

happy_chinese_tooth_wrigley According to a new study commissioned by Wrigley, students who chew gum during the course of their studies, in school and out, may just show an improvement in their grades. The theory certainly seems somewhat sound - kids chewing gum are less likely to be distracted by thoughts of food and have fewer cravings for sugary treats between or after classes. Even those that warn against the study's impartiality - it was funded by a gum manufacturer after all - admit that there are potential benefits to chewing gum, seeing as how it actually burns a modest amount of calories, especially those of the sugarless varieties.

Frankly, I kind of buy it. Not only does chewing gum sometimes help one focus, the amount of time and energy wasted by teachers hawking their students to see who's chewing and the dudes that have to clean the underside of the desks, tables, benches, etc. up at the end of the year has to cost a fortune.

One line of research suggests that gum should no longer be treated as contraband in schools. This newest study indicates that chewing gum can lead to better academic performance.

Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine took 108 eighth-grade math students from a Houston, Texas, charter school and divided them into two groups, following them for 14 weeks. One group chewed gum while doing homework and during test-taking situations. The other group did not chew gum at all.

The results were surprising. The gum-chewing students had a 3 percent increase in their standardized math test scores compared with those who did not chew gum. Also, the students who chewed gum had better final grades compared with the non-chompers.

"Chewing gum is an easy tool students can use for a potential academic edge," says Craig Johnston, Ph.D., the lead researcher and an instructor in nutrition at the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.

He also reports that teachers anecdotally found that students who chewed gum required fewer breaks, paid better attention and stayed quiet longer than those who did not.

Not content to let CNN and other news outlets spread the word, Wrigley's developed an entire section of their website in order to proselytize about the study's findings, right here. It's kind of crazy in-depth.