14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new scientific investigation, it would appear that the type of foods parents give to their children is a clear indicator on the IQ level the young ones will develop when they grow up.
The researchers behind the new study looked at how dietary patterns begin to influence the IQ of children aged 8. They noticed that diets full of vitamins and nutrients were more likely to result in higher IQs.
Conversely, diets that were high on foods containing high fat concentrations, lots of sugars, and that were also heavily processed, caused young children to have lower IQ levels. This research was published by researchers in the United Kingdom.
The study team, based at the University of Bristol (UB) School of Social and Community Medicine, published the details of its investigation in the latest issue of the esteemed Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
In order to tease out the connection, the UB team took data on the participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), which tracks around 14,000 children. All of them were born in 1991 and 1992. Those keeping track want to tease out long-term health patterns.
When the kids were 3,4, 7, and 8.5 years old, their parents were asked to fill out questionnaires about what types of foods and drinks their kids were consuming. They were also asked about how often the young ones were given those items.
The dietary types were then separated in three categories: processed (high fat and sugar intake), traditional (a lot of meat and only two types of vegetables or so) and health conscious (which included a lot of fruits, vegetables, salad, pasta and rice).
IQ levels were measured using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children when the kids were 8.5 years old. At the end of the study, some 4,000 children had been included in the survey.
The scientists learned that, even if the kids received different diets past that age, their IQ tended to be lower if they were given a predominantly-processed diet when they were young. For each one point increase on the dietary patterns scale, IQ levels dropped by 1.67 points.
Conversely, kids who received healthy diets scored a 1.2 IQ point increase for every point they climbed in the dietary classification chart.
“Our research suggests that any cognitive/behavioral effects relating to eating habits in early childhood may well persist into later childhood, despite any subsequent changes (including improvements) to dietary intake,” says Dr Kate Northstone.
She holds an appointment as a research fellow at the UB School of Social and Community Medicine.
“It is possible that good nutrition during the first three years of life may encourage optimal brain growth, advocating further research to determine the extent of the effect early diet has on intelligence,” adds senior research fellow Dr Pauline Emmett, also at UB.