Young children who are fed junk food suffer a massive loss of brain power, researchers reveal today.
Ensuring a child eats food packed with vitamins and nutrients has the opposite effect, according to a study of nearly 4,000 children in the Bristol area of UK.
A child who eats processed food packed with fat, sugar and processed foods at the age of three is condemned to suffering from a reduced IQ at the age of eight, according to the results of the research.
The study compared the effect of three kinds of diet – processed, traditional and healthy.
The findings are reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Researchers Dr Kate Northstone and Dr Pauline Emmet, of Bristol University, Bristol, UK, say: "This suggests that any cognitive/behavioural effects relating to eating habits in early childhood may well persist into later childhood, despite any subsequent changes (including improvements) to dietary intake.
"It is possible that good nutrition during this period may encourage optimal brain growth."
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health February 8 2011 doi 10.1136/jech.2010.111955
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