Processed food may be bad for children's IQ
TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2013 06:28 AM

For many parents, helping their children stay healthy means keeping them away from processed foods as much as possible. Youths who regularly consume foods that have been altered from their natural state, such as hot dogs and cookies, and take an IQ test for kids, may not be pleased with the results. At least, this is what new research from the journal "Community Health" reveals, according to KNDO/KNDU Local News.

To arrive at this conclusion, researchers analyzed the eating habits of 4,000 children when they were 3 years old and 8 years old. Kids who ate more processed foods than their fellow study participants were found to possess lower IQs. At the same time, a diet that consisted of more whole foods was linked to a two-point increase on the IQ tests they took.

If mothers and fathers want their kids to do well in school, it may be time to reduce the amount of processed food they consume. To achieve this goal, Parents magazine advises them to cut out fast food and go for foods with seven ingredients or less.