Processed, Fatty, and Sugary Foods

Processed, fatty and sugary foods may lower your children’s IQs. Boost their brain power by feeding them a diet packed with nutrients.

Junk food doesn’t just rot your kids’ teeth — it may also rot their brain. New research suggests that what we feed our children during the first three years of their life may have a significant impact on their IQ.

The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, found that toddlers who ate the most health-conscious diets had higher IQs by the age of 8 than children who subsisted on a processed food diet. Junky, fast-food diets, filled with sugar, fat and calories, appear to lower a child’s cognitive intelligence, while a Mediterranean-style diet appears to boost it.

While good nutrition at every age is important, researchers found what kids ate during the first three years of their life were particularly influential in brain development. A Mediterranean-style diet includes fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans and lean protein like poultry and fish.