A Weekly Roundup of News, Features and Commentary : Sweets, Performance Linked

At last, somebody has found something beneficial about candy.

A recently completed study by a Tufts University researcher found that students who ate a mid-afternoon candy bar or yogurt 15 minutes before having to perform a series of tasks did significantly better in terms of speed, accuracy, memory and concentration than without the treat.

“This suggests that a snack at about 3 in the afternoon can help you get through the last two hours of the workday,� said Robin Kanarek, a physiological psychologist at Tuft’s School of Nutrition, which released the study.

Although she acknowledged that there is little information on the effects of the short-term nutritional value of such a snack, Kanarek said her study indicates that the snack may increase performance by 15% to 20%.