Chew gum, do great in math
PHOTO: Bubblegum Math, Oak Park District 97
WebMD reports this week that a recent research project headed by Dr. Craig Johnston, an instructor of pediatrics nutrition at Baylor College of Medicine found in the Wrigley’s funded study that chewing sugar-free gum brought statistically significant increases in standardized math scores and final math grades.
They presented the results of their study at a recent annual meeting at the American Society for Nutrition’s Scientific Sessions and Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology 2009.
Here’s who and what Dr. Johnston’s studied, and found out:
Johnston and his team enlisted 108 eighth-grade students in four math classes, randomly assigning them to two groups: one group chewed Wrigley’s sugar-free gum during school, while doing homework, and also while taking a standardized test; students in the control group didn’t chew gum.
Johnston tells WebMD that students who chewed gum showed an increase in standardized math test scores after 14 weeks of chomping in class and while doing homework, compared to those who didn’t chew.
Gum chewing was associated with a 3% increase in standardized math scores, which Johnston terms small but still “statistically significant.”
The youngsters who chewed also had final math grades that were “significantly better” than those who didn’t chew, Johnston says.
The WebMD piece also notes that other researchers not connected with the study tout chewing gum’s stress reducing properties, noting that “it’s likely that chewing gum can reduce stress, leading to enhanced concentration and thus better academic performance.”