Rense: Poor Diet Linked To Bad Behaviour

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Poor Diet Linked To Bad Behaviour

BBC News

11-22-4

 

http://www.rense.com/general59/babd.htm

 

Children who have a poor diet are more likely to become aggressive

and anti-social, US researchers believe.

 

The University of Southern California found a lack of zinc, iron,

vitamin B and protein in the first three years caused bad behaviour

later on.

 

At eight years old, children fed poorly were more likely to be

irritable and pick fights than those fed healthily.

 

Aged 11, they swore, cheated and got into fights, and at 17, they

stole, bullied others and took drugs.

 

The researchers analysed the development of more than 1,000 children

on Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean off the cost of Africa,

over 14 years.

 

They found the more malnurished the children were, the greater the

anti-social behaviour later on.

 

The team took into account factors such as social background, health

and education, the American Journal of Psychiatry reported.

 

Report co-author Adrian Raine said parents could prevent their

children developing bad behaviour by ensuring they get better diets.

 

" Poor nutrition leads to low IQ, which leads to later anti-social

behaviour.

 

" At a societal level, should parents be thinking more about what

kids are eating?

 

" There's more to anti-social behaviour than nutrition, but we argue

that it is an important missing link.

 

Risk factors

 

" Biology is not destiny, we can change the biological disposition to

anti-social and aggressive behaviour. "

 

Fellow researcher Jianghong Liu, of the university's Social Science

Research Institute, agreed.

 

" Identifying the early risk factors for this behaviour in childhood

and adolescence is an important first step for developing successful

prevention programmes for adult violence. "

 

But Dr Ann Hagell, research development adviser at the Nuffield

Foundation, a charitable trust which funds social and education

research, raised doubts about the findings.

 

" I would not dismiss the study out-of-hand but I would be surprised

if diet plays a big role.

 

" In my experience diet is not part of the explanation.

 

 

" It can cause hyper activity disorders, but anti-social behaviour is

more influenced by parenting and genetics and teen peer pressure in

teenage groups. "

 

© BBC MMIV http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4032449.stm