AsianScientist (Aug. 9, 2012) – Children fed healthy diets at an early age may have a slightly higher IQ compared to those who eat a lot of junk food, say researchers from the University of Adelaide.
The study, published online in the European Journal of Epidemiology, looked at the link between the eating habits of children at six months, 15 months, and two years, and their IQ at eight years of age.
University of Adelaide Public Health researcher Dr. Lisa Smithers and colleagues studied more than 7,000 children, comparing a range of dietary patterns, including traditional and contemporary home-prepared food, ready-prepared baby foods, breastfeeding, and ‘discretionary’ or junk foods.
“Diet supplies the nutrients needed for the development of brain tissues in the first two years of life, and the aim of this study was to look at what impact diet would have on children’s IQs,” said Smithers.
The researchers found that children who were breastfed at six months and had a healthy diet regularly including foods such as legumes, cheese, fruit, and vegetables at 15 and 24 months, had an IQ up to two points higher by age eight.
Conversely, children who had a diet regularly involving biscuits, chocolate, sweets, soft drinks, and chips in the first two years of life had IQs up to two points lower by age eight.
The team also found some negative impact on IQ from ready-prepared baby foods given at six months, but some positive associations when given at 24 months.
Dr. Smithers says this study reinforces the need to provide children with healthy foods at a crucial, formative time in their lives.
“While the differences in IQ are not huge, this study provides some of the strongest evidence to date that dietary patterns from six to 24 months have a small but significant effect on IQ at eight years of age,” she noted.
“It is important that we consider the longer-term impact of the foods we feed our children,” she said.
The article can be found at: Smithers LG et al. (2012) Dietary patterns at 6, 15 and 24 months of age are associated with IQ at 8 years of age.
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Source: University of Adelaide.
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