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Diets high in fat, sugar and processed foods are lowering children's IQ, a new study suggests. The report says that eating habits among three year olds shapes brain performance as they get older.
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.
The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children is tracking the long-term health and wellbeing of around 14,000 children.
Food packed with vitamins and nutrients notably helped boost mental performance as youngsters got older, the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health reports.
Researchers said toddlers' diets could change IQ levels later in childhood, even if eating habits improve with age.
"This suggests that any cognitive/behavioural effects relating to eating habits in early childhood may well persist into later childhood, despite any subsequent changes to dietary intake," the authors wrote.
During the study, parents completed questionnaires detailing the types and frequency of the food and drink their children consumed when they were three, four, seven and eight-and-a-half years old.
Every one-point increase in the study's dietary pattern score – a record of processed fat intake – was associated with a 1.67-point fall in IQ.
The brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years of life.
"It is possible that good nutrition during this period may encourage optimal brain growth," the report added.
The School Food Trust's director of research, Michael Nelson, said: "Given that around 23% of children start school either overweight or obese, it's absolutely clear that healthy choices as part of their early development will stand children in good stead – not only for keeping a healthy weight as they grow up, but as this evidence suggests, improving their ability to do well at school.
"These findings also demonstrate the importance of helping everyone involved with children's early development to get the information and advice they need on good nutrition."
參考譯文：
一項新研究指出，高脂肪及高糖類膳食及加工食品降低了孩子們的IQ。該報告稱，三歲孩子的飲食習慣定型了其長大后的大腦性能。
通過對布里斯托爾城市成千上萬名英國兒童的研究得出，三歲時以加工食品為主的膳食習慣直接導致了其八歲半時較低的IQ水平。
這項關于父母-兒童的Avon縱向研究跟蹤了大約14,000名兒童的長期健康和福利情況。
據《流行病學與社區健康》期刊報道，富含維他命和營養素的食品能增強孩子成長過程中的心理特質。
研究者表示，初學走路孩子的膳食能改變其稍后童年時期的IQ水平，即使隨著年齡漸長改變了其膳食習慣。
作者寫道，“幼兒期任何跟膳食習慣有關的認知/行為效應可能會一直持續到稍后的童年期，即使之后改變了其膳食習慣。”
在本次研究中，父母填寫了列有其孩子3歲、四歲、七歲及八歲半時所攝入的食品及飲料類型和頻率的問卷。
每增加一個本研究的膳食模式得分——加工脂肪的攝入記錄，IQ水平則降低1.67個點。
在生命最初的三年時間里，大腦的成長速度是最快的。
該報告補充道，“這個時期良好的營養供給將保證大腦的最佳發育，這是很可能的。”
School Food Trust的研究總監Michael Nelson說：“現在已知約23%的孩子入學的時候不是超重就是肥胖，因此，大家要明確的是，早期成長過程中有益健康的選擇將使孩子維持在一個良好的狀態中——不僅是其長大后可以保持一個健康的體重，也如本研究結果所建議的，還可以提高其在學校方方面面的能力。
“這些研究發現也論證了幫助那些跟孩子早期成長有關的人員獲取他們需要的有關良好營養知識方面信息和建議的重要性。”
