Research at the University of Bristol's School of Social and Community Medicine was based on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, which tracked the long-term health and well-being of 14,000 children born in England in 1991 and 1992.
Parents completed questionnaires on the types and amount of food and drink their children consumed when they were three, four, seven and eight-and-a half.Researchers used this to identify three dietary patterns: processed, traditional (high in meat and vegetables), and health-conscious.
The results show that a diet of predominantly processed foods, high in fat and sugar, at the age of three was associated with a lower IQ at eight-and-a-half, irrespective of whether the diet changed years later. In contrast, children who ate a healthy diet of fruit, vegetables, rice and pasta had a much higher IQ.
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