Aggressive advertising for junk foods has many families here in Syracuse not being careful enough about the diets of their children. Some of this advertising is so effective on TV and elsewhere in Syracuse that it sometimes has families feeling food is just food and as long as it is fun to eat their kids will get the nutrition they need to be healthy. This is not true. Poor diets can negatively effect the health of the kids of Syracuse.
Steven Reinberg has written for HealthDay, "Processed, Fatty Foods May Dumb Down Your Kids: Study", http://bit.ly/ft6jeG. British researchers have said feeding children lots of fatty, sugary and processed foods may lower their IQ, while a diet rich in vitamins and nutrients appears to boost it. The authors for this study have said this is particularly true during the first three years of life when the brain is developing rapidly. These researchers have gone on to speculate that good nutrition may promote brain growth and cognitive development.
Lead researcher Kate Northstone, a research fellow in the department of social medicine at the University of Bristol, has said "We have found some evidence to suggest that a diet associated with increasing consumption of foods that are high in fat, sugar and processed foods in early childhood is associated with small reductions in IQ in later childhood." Northstone has also said a more health-conscious diet has been found to be associated with small increases in IQ.
