File photo for representation.
Washington: Researchers from the University of Illinois and the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil found that dietary patterns at age two may influence cognitive performance at ages six and seven.
Published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, the study tracked thousands of children from birth and assessed their diets at age two alongside later cognitive tests.
Two main dietary patterns emerged: a healthy pattern including beans, fruits, vegetables, natural baby foods, and fresh juices, and an unhealthy pattern with processed snacks, biscuits, sweets, sodas, sausages, and processed meats. Children following the unhealthy pattern scored lower on intelligence tests, even after adjusting for socioeconomic and family factors.
The effects were strongest in biologically vulnerable children, such as those with low weight, height, or head circumference in early life, highlighting the cumulative impact of nutrition and biological factors.
Poor-quality diets may affect brain development through chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and gut-brain axis changes.
