Rumela Dasgupta

It's that time of the year when many parents around the world are worried about their children's sitting exams. I am as well. My daughter is back home from university studying for her exams. It's stressful with the pressure to perform and get good results.

which got me thinking about what she can eat that provides her with energy and nutrition during this difficult time. Can food help us manage stress and improve sleep? Is there such a thing as brain food? So today on the Food Chain from the BBC World Service with me, Ramela Dasgupta, we ask, does what we eat affect exam performance?

To find out what teenagers around the world are actually eating as they study for their tests, I spoke to Alex, Isabella and Kenny, who attend Zoomix, a youth community radio station in the US city of Boston.

And when you're stressed out, you eat a lot, is what you said. But do you ever forget to eat, for instance?

That's Alex, Isabella and Kenny. Listening to that is Professor Julia Rutledge. She's director of the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Lab at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. And Lucy Upton, a UK-based specialist paediatric dietitian.

And we have a couple of older students too. Mariah Petway is 22 and she's studying journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago. And from India we have Rania Ray. She's an 18-year-old psychology student at Opi Jindal Global University near Delhi.

So we've just heard from these younger teens who are still at home. Mariah and Rania, you are older, you've sat many more exams, and by now you're actually away from home. So Mariah, do you find handling food during exams easier? Honestly, I think it might be a little easier just because I'm still in the dorm, so I have food always readily available to me.

And what about you, Rania? You've got exams coming up next month. Yeah, so same for me. I take my diet very importantly. And we get served four meals, so I make sure to go for each one of them. What about when you're studying, for instance, when you're studying late into the night, different hours? Do you have a little bag of goodies that you reach into?

joten on aina vaihtoehto, vaikka on 2 aamua, voidaan syödä, jos on halunnut. Mariah, mitä sinulla on? Onko sinulla kaupungista tai krippiä? Minulla on hieman Oreoja, joita otan joskus, kun olen halunnut.

Todennäköisesti kyllä. Muuten kuin sitä, en ole kovin iso rauhassa. Yritän saada kolme ruokaa, jotta en rauhoita liian paljon. Tämä on mielenkiintoista. Lucy, eikö se ole se, että me, edelleen kuin vanhemmat, emme tee kokemuksia, vaan me taisimme saada tiettyjä rauhoja tai tiettyjä ruokaa, kun olemme stressineet tai tyytyväisiä tai emme voi olla rauhoittuneita?

Certain vitamins and minerals, iron, sometimes calcium, sometimes even iodine. But yes, essentially is the bottom line. But like Julia said, nothing beats a good diet. Absolutely nothing beats a good diet. You're listening to the Food Chain from the BBC World Service.

I'm Rumela Dasgupta. This week, does what we eat affect exam performance? We are speaking to Mariah and Rania, university students from the US and India, and experts Professor Julia Rutledge, who is a clinical psychologist, and Lucy Upton, a pediatric dietician.

and then 10% ultra-processed, and that's shifting the dial. Mariah, what about you? During your exams, are you tempted to order that quick takeaway ever?

Rania, I wonder whether your peers on campus, if you're studying together or if you're meeting up for a meal, what do you tend to eat and do you have time to do it? So, yes, we do study together. We go to the study room. So these days what we do is...

Okay, well this seems like a good moment to hear a bit more from our Boston teenagers, Isabella, Kenny and Alex. They all had questions for you, Lucy, so let's start with Isabella. Are there any foods that actually make it harder for you to concentrate?

That was Lucy Upton. My thanks also to Professor Julia Rutledge and students Rania and Mariah, and the teenagers from Boston, Alex, Isabella and Kenny.

Are there any foods that helped you get through your exams? Email us at thefoodchain at bbc.co.uk. For now, from me, Ramela Dasgupta, producer Lexi O'Connor and editor Sarah Waitson, thanks for listening and join us again next week.