Processed foods ‘lower child’s IQ’
Diets high in fats, sugars and processed foods are lowering toddlers’ IQ, a new study suggests.
The brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years of life and a predominantly processed food diet at the age of three is directly associated with a lower IQ at the age of eight and a half, according to a Bristol-based study of thousands of British children. Food packed with vitamins and nutrients notably did the opposite, helping boost mental performance as youngsters got older, the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health reports.
The study is tracking the long-term health of about 14,000 children.