A kindergarten teacher reviews research findings on aspects of children's diet that may influence behavior and the ability to learn. Introductory discussion presents vignettes relating kindergarten children's behavioral responses to dietary intake. A brief background section offering dietary tips is followed by relatively extended discussions of caffeine, sugar, food additives, food allergies, and general nutrition. The section on caffeine emphasizes Baer's (1987) naturalistic study of the responses of individual children to caffeine. The study found only a few weak relationships between caffeine ingestion and outcome variables. The discussion of sugar's effects focuses on carbohydrate sensitivity and hyperactivity. The section on food additives focuses on Dr. Feingold's research, the effectiveness of the Kaiser-Permanente (K-P) Diet, as well as studies showing no consistent deterioration in children's behavior following dietary challenges with artificial food coloring. Discussion of food allergies takes into account the summation effect, exemplified by a child who has symptoms from eating chocolate only during ragweed season. Concluding remarks briefly consider problems related to inadequate nutrition, skipping breakfast, iron and protein deficiency, sugar excess, and chronic hunger. (RH)