Parents want their children to be smart and full of wisdom, but do you know what to do to make their children smarter?
Some studies have been more specific in that about 50% of differences in intelligence between people are caused by genetic differences, and the remaining 50% are explained by environmental factors.
Environmental factors include, but are not limited to, the child's usual family environment, educational environment, dietary environment, etc. Today we will talk about diet, how it affects children's intelligence.
Unhealthy eating in early childhood affects children's IQ
Data on 3575 children were included, dietary patterns were assessed at age 4, cognitive abilities were assessed at age 10-13, and obesity-related indicators such as BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, and body fat percentage were recorded;
Children classified as having a high-energy eating pattern or snacking pattern at age 4 had lower scores in terms of overall IQ, verbal IQ, performance IQ, etc. at age 10-13 compared to children with healthy eating patterns;
Mediating effect analysis suggests that childhood obesity does not explain the association between dietary patterns and IQ;
This study supports that early unhealthy eating patterns are associated with lower cognitive abilities in the future, but this effect is not obesity-mediated.
What factors in everyday life affect a child's IQ?
Avoid excessive calories: Eating too high calories from food will reduce synaptic plasticity and affect learning and memory.
Avoid heavy metals: Many heavy metals are toxic to nerve cells and impair brain development.
Daily necessities: many daily necessities such as cheap plastic toys, dishes and chopsticks with special colors, etc., the lead content of this item is often not low.
What foods can help brain development?
Peanuts: Peanuts, also known as "long fruits", which are rich in lecithin and cerebral phospholipids, which are important substances needed by the nervous system, can delay the decline of brain function, inhibit platelet aggregation, and prevent the formation of cerebral thrombosis.
Fish: Fish is rich in DHA, this substance is also known as brain gold, which is very helpful for brain development, especially deep-sea fish such as salmon, which is more prominent.
Eggs: Eggs contain soft phospholipids, triglycerides and levin, which play an important role in neurodevelopment.
Pumpkin: Pumpkin is rich in β-carotene, and studies have found that more intake of β-carotene can maintain a sharper ability to think.
Milk: Milk is rich in protein, calcium, and essential amino acids. There are also vitamin B1 and other elements that are very beneficial to nerves.
What other factors in life affect brain development?
Reduce saturated fatty acid intake: The energy of saturated fatty acids is too high, which will accelerate cognitive decline, and the cognitive damage to brain injuries and the elderly will worsen. So eat less of this type of food.
Weight loss: human fat will secrete a hormone, this hormone is called leptin, there are studies found that the leptin receptor function of mice is abnormal, will affect the ability to learn, and if the injection of leptin in the brain, it can be restored as before, and the prefrontal lobe related to advanced cognitive function, the hippocampus and other areas that are closely related to learning and memory will also be affected by leptin.
Exercise: Studies have found that exercise will also have a positive effect on some neurological diseases, so in addition to diet, exercise should not be spared
Sleep: The University of Pennsylvania study published in the Journal of the American Geriatric Medical Association said that napping no more than 1 hour is best, which can effectively slow down premature brain failure.
The results of the analysis showed that people who did not nap had a 4-6-fold increased risk of cognitive decline compared with those who took a nap for 1 hour a day; compared with those who napped for more than 1 hour, those who napped for 1 hour did better on various tests.
A healthy diet is important for everyone, but it can be especially important for the developing body and brain!
Early childhood is also a critical period for developing healthy lifestyle habits and eating tastes. During this period, parents should do a good job of auxiliary work to help their children lay a solid foundation for healthy doctors.
bibliography:
[1] "Unhealthy Diet in Early Childhood Affects Children's IQ", Zeitgeari Daily
[2] Chen Xiaoshu in the summer of "What to Eat Will Affect children's intelligence"
[3] "How to Eat to Supplement the Brain?" [Dietitian Gu Zhongyi]" Nutritionist Gu Zhongyi
[4] "Eating walnuts doesn't make up for the brain!" I think "tonic brain" should be eaten like this" Lilac Doctor
[5] "What to Eat to Supplement the Brain?" Don't Miss These (Included Food Grams Table)" Sina Parenting
[6] "The brain's favorite food, walnuts only ranked fourth, the first place no one can imagine!" Cooking is simple
[7] "Nap no more than 1 hour to slow down premature brain failure? The Peninsula Morning Post
Personal introduction: Nutritionist Vivi (Zhu Yuwei), China's first batch of registered dietitians, returnee master of nutrition, national first-class public nutritionist, vice chairman of the Infant Supplement Professional Committee, member of the Maternal and Infant Science Writers Association of China Science Writers Association, the whole network of fans more than one million,000,000,000,000,000 people, focusing on the dissemination of international mainstream maternal and infant parenting, nutritional food and other popular science knowledge. Welcome to follow me on Penguin and various platforms