Wellness Wednesday - Children who eat junk food have lower IQs

Life is crazy and busy. There are so many mouths to feed and just not enough time to get everything done. Popping through a drive-through seems like the easiest and most convenient way to make sure the kids are fed while still having enough time to squeeze in a few other errands because you didn't have time to cook dinner. It's a catch 22 situation that most parents are caught up in, because, while you may have saved yourself a few minutes of time, you're contributing to a lifetime of complications for you and your family.

A recent study undertaken by an academic at Goldsmiths, University of London, found that parents with a higher socio-economic status gave their children meals prepared with fresh, real ingredients more often, which had a positive affect on their IQ. The study showed that lower socio-economic status was associated with more children having fast food, and this led to a lower IQ.

Dr. Sophie von Stumm of the Department of Psychology at the University of London said: “It’s common sense that the type of food we eat will affect brain development, but previous research has only looked at the effects of specific food groups on children’s IQ rather than at generic types of meals.” 

Let's face it, if you can afford to pay for someone to help look after your kids and run your house for you, or you are a stay at home mom because one salary is enough to keep your family going, you will have time to cook proper meals for your family. But in households where both parents are working, or where there is only a single parent trying to work 2 jobs to make ends meet, cooking dinner is a luxury that simply doesn't exist. Fast food is going to the obvious choice and what child will argue with that? What if I told you it's a proven fact that those children score lower on intelligence tests and they often struggle in school?

Even if parents are managing to cook decent meals for their kids at home, all of that hard work is often undone once the kids are at school. Schools in less privileged areas don't really go out of their way to help feed kids a balanced diet. Tuck shops are full of things like burgers and french fries and hot dogs and loads of junk like crisps, chocolates and sweets. If the school has a cafeteria, it is stocked with all of the wrong kinds of foods. A friend of mine went to fetch her child from school and happened to arrive as they were having their afternoon snack. That snack consisted of a sandwich with hundreds and thousands on it!! On what planet is that nutritious for a child?!

Yes I mean these things!

People seem to have the misconception that, as long as a child isn't hungry and has a full tummy, they are doing fine. Nothing could be further from the truth though. Freshness and quality of food matters so much more than just being full, especially when children are young and developing. The lack of wholesome food is going to have a lasting effect on those kids and THAT is going to greatly affect their future. 

Another study done in Australia at the University of Adelaide, published in August 2012, showed that toddlers who eat junk food grow less smart as they get older. In this study, the diets of 7000 children were examined at the age of 6 months, 15 months and 2 years. When the children were examined again at age 8, those who were eating a lot of sweets, fizzy drinks and other junk food had IQs up to 2 points lower than children eating a wholesome diet.

That may not seem like a huge amount but it is actually. Kids who are even SLIGHTLY slower at school not only get left behind, but also get picked on and bullied by other kids. That is going to lead to a lifetime of lowered self-esteem and insecurity. Besides, imagine those kids after another 10 years of eating junk food? They are going to be distinctly disadvantaged by the time they are a teenager and even more so as they reach adulthood. The situation isn't going to improve unless the diet does.

An American study showed that children who eat junk food such as pizza, chips and biscuits before the age of 3 will likely end up having lower IQs than children who eat home-cooked meals with fresh fruits and vegetables. These children were tested 5 years later and had IQ scores that were as much as 5 points lower than their healthier-eating peers. A big problem is that, the effects of eating junk so early in life can't be changed by future healthy habits because brain development has already been hindered, so you need to start them being healthy from very young and keep them there.

Those early developmental years are SO important. It can't be stressed enough. Yet those are the years that parents seem to think they can feed their kids anything, as if it doesn't really count because they have such a high metabolism they burn it off anyway. It's not about what makes kids fat. It should NEVER be about what makes anyone fat. It should be about what makes them healthy and gives them every advantage they need to get as far as they can in life.

Next time you consider a drive through, take a detour instead to the fresh food section of a grocery store and feed your child some fruit instead. It's not only cheaper, but it will have a long lasting, positive effect on your child.