Childrens Health

University of Adelaide.
boy eating pizz

Children fed healthy diets in early age may have a slightly higher IQ, while those on heavier junk food diets may have a slightly reduced IQ, according to new research from the University of Adelaide.

The study – led by University of Adelaide Public Health researcher Dr Lisa Smithers – looked at the link between the eating habits of children at six months, 15 months and two years, and their IQ at eight years of age.

The study of more than 7000 children compared a range of dietary patterns, including traditional and contemporary home-prepared food, ready-prepared baby foods, breastfeeding, and ‘discretionary’ or junk foods.

“Diet supplies the nutrients needed for the development of brain tissues in the first two years of life, and the aim of this study was to look at what impact diet would have on children’s IQs,” Dr Smithers says.

“We found that children who were breastfed at six months and had a healthy diet regularly including foods such as legumes, cheese, fruit and vegetables at 15 and 24 months, had an IQ up to two points higher by age eight.

“Those children who had a diet regularly involving biscuits, chocolate, lollies, soft drinks and chips in the first two years of life had IQs up to two points lower by age eight.

“We also found some negative impact on IQ from ready-prepared baby foods given at six months, but some positive associations when given at 24 months,” Dr Smithers says.

Dr Smithers says this study reinforces the need to provide children with healthy foods at a crucial, formative time in their lives.

“While the differences in IQ are not huge, this study provides some of the strongest evidence to date that dietary patterns from six to 24 months have a small but significant effect on IQ at eight years of age,” Dr Smithers says.

“It is important that we consider the longer-term impact of the foods we feed our children,” she says.

The results of this study have been published online in the European Journal of Epidemiology.

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In two studies published in a special issue of the journal Early Child Development and Care devoted to “Parental Influences of Childhood Obesity”, researchers examine how parenting style – whether a strict but loving parent or a less-involved and more permissive parent – was associated with sedentary behaviour.

Overall, they found that children who had “neglectful” parents, or ones who weren’t home often and self-reported spending less time with their kids, were getting 30 minutes more screen time on an average week day.

“A half hour each day may not seem like much, but add that up over a week, then a month, and then a year and you have a big impact,” says lead author David Schary. “One child may be getting up to four hours more active play every week, and this sets the stage for the rest of their life.”

Some might wonder whether parents who were less participatory during the week days made up for it during the weekends. Actually, just the opposite happened. Sedentary time increased nearly one hour each weekend day.

Bradley Cardinal, who co-authored both papers with Schary and Paul Loprinzi, says sedentary behaviour goes against the natural tendencies of most preschool-age children.

“Toddlers and preschool-age children are spontaneous movers, so it is natural for them to have bursts of activity many minutes per hour,” he said. “We find that when kids enter school, their levels of physical activity decrease and overall, it continues to decline throughout their life. Early life involvement is imperative for establishing healthy, active lifestyles, self-awareness, social acceptance, and even brain and cognitive development.”

In their second study, it was also found that parents who actively played with their kids had the most impact, but that any level of encouragement, even just watching their child play, made a difference.

“When children are very young, playing is the main thing they do during waking hours, so parental support and encouragement is crucial,” Schary said. “So when we see preschool children not going outside much and sitting while playing… we need to help parents counteract that behaviour.”

Both these studies were published in Early Child Development and Care 182:8 (2012), and are now available to read online:

Parenting style associated with sedentary behaviour in preschool children

David P. Schary, Bradley J. Cardinal & Paul D. Loprinzi

Parental support exceeds parenting style for promoting active play in preschool children

David P. Schary, Bradley J. Cardinal & Paul D. Loprinzi
The entire special issue contents can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/gecd20/182/8.

Taylor and Francis

Is the Spirit of Childhood at Risk?

family-funThe results of a new global report released today by the OREO brand and Ipsos Public Affairs indicate that from China to Poland and Portugal to Venezuela, the spirit of childhood – that is, the chance for children and adults alike to enjoy simple, carefree moments – may be destined for the endangered species list. The report reveals that the vast majority of parents surveyed believe today’s kids are growing up quicker than previous generations. In fact, seven out of 10 parents worldwide say their children should have more time to ‘just be kids.’

The idea that the spirit of childhood is on the decline is true not only for kids, but also adults. Parents everywhere yearn for the type of lighthearted enjoyment they had when they were kids. In fact, a majority of parents worldwide (59%) say they don’t have fun on a daily basis and 54 percent say they rarely experience the feelings of delight they did when they were children.

The “Global Spirit of Childhood Report, conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of OREO, measured the spirit of childhood around the world in an effort to understand if people, both young and old, take the time to experience the simple joys of being a kid.

“As we regularly talk with consumers worldwide, we consistently hear about the importance of experiencing the carefree feelings of childhood at any age,” said Sheeba Philip, Global Brand Director for OREO. “We believe this sentiment is more important now than ever before, so we conducted this research to learn more about the spirit of childhood worldwide.” [continue reading…]

Babies Are Smarter Than You Think

In the past 30 years we’ve learned that babies and young children know more and learn more than we would ever have thought possible.

Philosophers and psychologists, even the great Swiss child-development theorist Jean Piaget, once thought that babies and young children were irrational, solipsistic, illogical and amoral — unable to take the perspective of others or understand cause and effect. But new scientific techniques have taught us that even the youngest infants already know a great deal about objects, people and language, and learn even more. In fact, they have implicit learning methods that are as powerful and intelligent as those of the smartest scientists.

They can unconsciously do complicated statistical analyses and their everyday play turns out, remarkably, to be very much like a set of scientific experiments. And I, at least, think that they may actually experience the world more vividly than we do.

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Source: CNN