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Junk diet impacts on kids' IQ
8th Feb 2011
Toddlers fed a diet of junk food can suffer lasting damage to their brainpower, experts say.
Children who eat more chips, crisps, biscuits and pizza before the age of three have a lower IQ five years later, a study shows.
The difference could be as much as five IQ points compared with children given healthier diets with fruit, vegetables and home-cooked food.
But even if their diet improves, it could be too late as the ill-effects can last a lifetime.
This is the first study to suggest a direct link between the diet of young children and their brainpower in later life.
The project at Bristol University took account of factors such as social class, breastfeeding and maternal education and age.
Researchers also allowed for the influence of the home environment, for example a child's access to toys and books.
They said good nutrition was crucial in the first three years of life when the brain grows at its fastest rate.
Young children eating a diet packed with fats, sugar and processed foods consume too few vitamins and nutrients, which means their brains never grow to optimal levels.
The findings are the latest to be published from a major investigation of childhood development called the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.
This tracks the long-term health and well-being of around 14,000 children born in the early 1990s.
Three dietary patterns were identified; a processed diet high in fats and sugar, a traditional diet of meat and vegetables and a health-conscious diet high in salad, fruit and vegetables.
Researchers Dr Pauline Emmett and Dr Kate Northstone said the effect of a poor diet on brain development could persist forever, even if the diet improved.
In the study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, children's IQ was measured when they reached eight years old.
Dr Emmett said that the diet for children aged four or seven years had no impact on IQ scores.
But the 20% of children with the worst diet at the age of three had on average an IQ score five points lower than the group eating the best diet by the time they got to eight, she said.
She added: ‘The brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years and good nutrition during this period may encourage optimal brain growth.
‘By the age of three, brain development is slowing down which is perhaps why the diet doesn't have much effect afterwards.'
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