Parents were quizzed about 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. |
Children brought up on healthy diets are more intelligent compared with their junk food eating counterparts, new research suggests. Toddlers fed a diet packed high in fats, sugars, and processed foods had lower IQs than those fed pasta, salads and fruit, it was found. The effect is so great that researchers from the University of Bristol said those children with a "healthier" diet may get an IQ boost. Scientists stressed good diet was vital in a child's early life as the brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years of life. This indicated head growth at this time is linked to intellectual ability and "it is possible that good nutrition during this period may encourage optimal brain growth". Scientists tracked the long term health and wellbeing of around 14,000 children born in 1991 and 1992 as part of the West Country's Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Parents were quizzed about 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. They were marked on a sliding scale which ranged from minus two for the most healthy to 10 for the most unhealthy. IQ was measured using a validated test – the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – of 4,000 children when they were eight and half years old. The results found after taking account of potentially influential factors, a predominantly processed food diet at the age of three was associated with a lower IQ at the age of eight and a half, irrespective of whether the diet improved after that age. Every 1 point increase in dietary pattern score was associated with a 1.67 fall in IQ. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
新研究發(fā)現(xiàn),那些飲食健康的孩子要比老吃垃圾食品的同齡人聰明。 研究發(fā)現(xiàn),經(jīng)常吃高脂肪、高糖分食物及加工食品的幼兒的智商要低于常吃面食、沙拉和水果的同齡人。 食物對智力的影響很大,英國布里斯托大學(xué)的研究人員說飲食更健康的孩子會有更高的智商。 科學(xué)家強調(diào)說在兒童的早期生活中良好的飲食結(jié)構(gòu)極其重要,因為在生命的頭三年中,孩子的大腦發(fā)育得最快。 這表明了這個時期的頭部發(fā)育與智力有關(guān),而且“這個時期的良好營養(yǎng)可能會促進(jìn)大腦的最佳發(fā)育”。 科學(xué)家們追蹤調(diào)查了出生于1991年和1992年的1.4萬名兒童的長期健康及富裕狀況,這項調(diào)查是面向英國西南部各郡的“埃文親子縱向研究”中的一部分。 在這些兒童三歲、四歲、七歲和八歲半時,研究人員向孩子的父母詢問了孩子所攝入的飲食的種類,以及隔多長時間進(jìn)食。 研究人員根據(jù)相應(yīng)增減對照表給孩子們的飲食情況打分,分?jǐn)?shù)區(qū)間為-2到10,-2表示最健康,10表示最不健康。 研究人員在其中的4000個孩子八歲半時,用韋氏兒童智力量表(一種經(jīng)過認(rèn)證的測驗工具)給他們測了智商。 結(jié)果顯示,如果將潛在的影響因素考慮在內(nèi)的話,一個在三歲時以吃加工食品為主的孩子在八歲半時的智力會較低。即使這個孩子在三歲后飲食結(jié)構(gòu)有所改善,結(jié)果也還是一樣。 飲食結(jié)構(gòu)的得分每增加一分,智商就會降低1.67分。 相關(guān)閱讀 (中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 崔旭燕 編輯:陳丹妮) |
Vocabulary: pasta: an Italian food made from flour, eggs and water, formed into different shapes and usually served with a sauce(意大利面食) optimal: best or most favorable(最佳的;最適宜的) sliding scale: 相應(yīng)增減對照表 irrespective of: without considering something or being influenced by it(不考慮;不管;不受……影響) |