Parents do all kinds of things to help their children get top marks in school.
But before you splash out on a tutor, consider this: new research shows a child's diet can dramatically affect their IQ.
Children who eat fruit, vegetables, fish, and whole grains in their first three years of school do far better in tests than their peers with poor diets, the study found.
The findings, from the University of Eastern Finland, were independent of children's socio-economic status, physical fitness, and body type.
It suggests healthy foods impact the brain in a way we do not fully appreciate, and could provide important evidence for public health policymakers globally.
The study involved 161 children aged between six and eight years old, and followed up on them from the first grade to the third grade in school.
The quality of their diet was analysed using food diaries, and their academic skills with the help of standardized tests.
The closer the diet followed the Baltic Sea Diet (high in vegetables, fruit and berries, fish, whole grain, and unsaturated fats and low in red meat, sugary products, and saturated fat) the healthier it was considered.
The study showed that children whose diet was rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grain, fish and unsaturated fats, and low in sugar, did the best in reading tests.
These healthy-eating children also showed the most progress in reading skills between grades one and three, compared to their peers with low-quality diets.
'Another significant observation is that the associations of diet quality with reading skills were also independent of many confounding factors, such as socio-economic status, physical activity, body adiposity, and physical fitness,' Dr Eero Haapala of the University of Eastern Finland said.
'A healthy diet seems to be an important factor in supporting learning and academic performance in children.
'By making healthy choices every meal, it is possible to promote a healthy diet and enhance diet quality.
'Parents and schools have an important role in making healthy foods available to children.
'Furthermore, governments and companies play a key role in promoting the availability and production of healthy foods.'
What does this mean for global public health policymakers?
America is currently grappling under the weight of a burgeoning obesity crisis.
Despite intense public health campaigns against sugar, saturated fats, and processed meats, the figures are not shifting.
Currently the US dietary guidelines do not recommend cutting dairy and red meat intake - something which has drawn ire from the medical community.
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