Children who regularly eat junk food are nearly three times as likely to behave badly than those who avoid it completely, according to a recent Food for the Brain survey funded by organic food company Organix of more than 10,000 children.

The survey also linked good academic performance with a healthy diet containing plenty of vegetables, oily fish, whole grains, nuts, seeds and water. The scores of those eating a good diet gained 11 per cent higher marks than those eating a poor diet.

In the report parents were asked to rate their children’s behaviour on a scale of one to five; they also answered questions about their children’s eating habits and diet. Of those who ate fried, take away or processed foods every day, 44 per cent of children were thought to be poorly behaved. Only 16 per cent of those who never ate junk food were deemed to have poor behaviour. The average intake of dark green leafy vegetables and wholegrain food was a meager one a week and refined or processed foods were eaten on average twice a day.

Overall this report reveals a depressing picture of a nation of poorly fed children but it does show that the first step to improving academic performance may be by improving diet.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 at 4:10 am and is filed under Children's Health, In the News, Nutrition and Healthy Eating. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.