Study found grade-point averages escalated as students increased visits to campus dining center.

July 9 - Eating meals at a college dining hall may be a contributing factor to improved academics and social life, according to a new study by Kansas State University.

Abigail Bauer, who recently earned her master's degree in public health from K-State, analyzed the effects that communal eating at a university dining center had on grades and perceived social support in first-year college students. She discovered that students' grade-point averages escalated as they increased the number of times they ate in a campus dining center and with others.

Students who ate at least 11 times a week in the dining center earned an average GPA of 3.4, according to Bauer's study, but those who ate fewer than seven times per week in the dining center earned an average GPA of 3.0.