a clear pattern between the quality of food eaten and IQ scores

At Ukmedix News We've written plenty about how dangerous obesity is to the health of children and how it can effect their lives in many different ways. New research shows done by scientists at Bristol University shows that unhealthy eating can even have an impact on the IQ of children.

The research which was revealed in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health shows a link between unhealthy food and the development of brains. Almost 4,000 children who were part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children were monitored at regular intervals between the ages of three and eight and the results suggested a clear pattern between the quality of food eaten and IQ scores.

The researchers said that those children who consumed a diet high in processed food at the early age of three got lower IQ scores when they were tested at the age of eight and a half. They also noted that this showed the impact of unhealthy eating could materialize at a later age.

Those children who had a diet which was healthier only scored marginally better IQ results but Dr Pauline Emmett who led the study said the relationship was very evident. Dr Emmett said that the pace of brain development when children were very young was much faster than when they got older and that the study had taken into account other factors which could have skewed the results such as socioeconomic factors and even the duration of breast feeding.

Probably the best bit of advice you could follow as a parent of a very young child is to feed them healthily. The huge impact that this will have on their long term health will probably be the greatest gift you could ever give them and according to this new research you'll be improving their ability to solve complex problems too.