News Flash! Junk food lowers IQ

Kids who eat a diet high in fats, sugars, and processed foods in early childhood appear to grow up to have a lower IQ, while those who eat a diet rich in vitamins and nutrients grow to have higher intelligence, new research from Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggests. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children is tracking the long-term health and well-being of around 14,000 children born in 1991 and 1992.

The researchers broke up the kids into three dietary patterns: "processed" high in fats and sugar intake "traditional" high in meat and vegetable intake "health conscious" high in salad, fruit and vegetables, rice and pasta. After the researchers adjusted their findings for several factors, including breastfeeding duration and the amount of oily fish their mothers consumed while pregnant, they found that a highly processed food diet at the age of three was linked with a lower IQ at the age of 8.5. Every 1 point increase in dietary pattern score was associated with a 1.67 fall in IQ.

On the other hand, a healthy diet was associated with a higher IQ at the age of 8.5, with every 1 point increase in dietary pattern linked to a 1.2 increase in IQ. They also found that it didn't matter if the children's diets improved or worsened at older ages. Dietary patterns between the ages of 4 and 7 had no impact on IQ.

The authors note that the brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years of life. Other research has found that head growth at this time is linked to intellectual ability.