Study claims children who eat these things have better mental health

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

Children who eat more fruit and vegetables have better mental health, according to new research.

The one in four youngsters who ate the recommended five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day had the highest mental well-being scores.

The study is the first to investigate the association between fruit and vegetable intake, breakfast and lunch choices, and mental well-being in British school children.

Less than 10 percent of kids ate no fruit or veggies at all, according to the findings published in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health.

The research team studied data from more than 8,500 children at 50 schools in Norfolk.

They found that the types of breakfast and lunch eaten by both primary and secondary school pupils were "significantly associated" with well-being.

Children who ate a traditional breakfast experienced better well-being than those who only had a snack or drink.

But, secondary school pupils who drank energy drinks for breakfast had particularly low mental well-being scores, even lower than for those children who ate no breakfast at all.

The team also found that nutrition had as much or more of an impact on wellbeing as factors such as witnessing regular arguing or violence at home.

They say that public health strategies and school policies should be developed to ensure that good quality nutrition is available to all pupils before and during school to optimize mental wellbeing and empower children to fulfill their full potential.

“We know that poor mental well-being is a major issue for young people and is likely to have long-term negative consequences," said Professor Ailsa Welch, of the University of East Anglia (UEA).

“While the links between nutrition and physical health are well understood, until now, not much has been known about whether nutrition plays a part in children’s emotional well-being.

"So, we set out to investigate the association between dietary choices and mental well-being among schoolchildren.”

Children involved in the study self-reported what they ate and took part in age-appropriate mental well-being tests that covered cheerfulness, relaxation, and having good interpersonal relationships.

“In terms of nutrition, we found that only around a quarter of secondary-school children and 28 per cent of primary-school children reported eating the recommended five-a-day fruits and vegetables," said Welch.

"And just under one in 10 children were not eating any fruits or vegetables.

“More than one in five secondary school children and one in 10 primary children didn’t eat breakfast. And more than one in 10 secondary school children didn’t eat lunch.

The team looked at the association between nutritional factors and mental well-being and took into account other factors that might have an impact – such as adverse childhood experiences and home situations.

“We found that eating well was associated with better mental well-being in children," said Dr. Richard Hayhoe, also of UEA’s Norwich Medical School.

“Children who ate a traditional breakfast experienced better wellbeing than those who only had a snack or drink. But secondary school children who drank energy drinks for breakfast had particularly low mental wellbeing scores, even lower than for those children consuming no breakfast at all," said Hayhoe.

“According to our data, in a class of 30 secondary school pupils, around 21 will have consumed a conventional-type breakfast, and at least four will have had nothing to eat or drink before starting classes in the morning.

“Similarly, at least three pupils will go into afternoon classes without eating any lunch. This is of concern, and likely to affect not only academic performance at school but also physical growth and development.

“Another interesting thing that we found was that nutrition had as much or more of an impact on well-being as factors such as witnessing regular arguing or violence at home."

“As a potentially modifiable factor at an individual and societal level, nutrition represents an important public health target for strategies to address childhood mental wellbeing," Welch said.

“Public health strategies and school policies should be developed to ensure that good quality nutrition is available to all children both before and during school in order to optimize mental well-being and empower children to fulfill their full potential.”