Western diet impairs cognition in teens, according to a new research.
Australian researchers found that 14-year-olds who ate a western diet of mainly junk food had lower cognitive scores by the age of 17.
According to the researchers, the findings show that consuming more junk food such as burgers, fries and sodas can seriously impair reaction time, intellect, attention, learning and memory. Moreover, eating chips and crisps was linked to higher and longer reaction times on detection tasks.
For the study, the researchers examined 602 participants from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort Study. All the participants, aged 14, were told to fill out a food frequency questionnaire. They were followed and were required to undergo different cognitive tasks when they turned 17.
Researchers also found that eating fruits and vegetables improved cognitive ability. Findings revealed that the teens who consumed more fruits and leafy green vegetables were significantly more likely to score higher on cognitive tests.
"Adolescence represents a critical time period for brain development. It is possible that poor diet is a significant risk factor during this period...indeed, our findings support this proposition," lead researcher Dr Anett Nyardi told Science Network Western Australia. "These findings have important implications for future health policies and health promotion programs."
She noted that various factors play a role in diet-related decline in cognitive skills, including the level of omega-6 fatty acids in fried foods and red meat.
Dr Nyaradi explained that past researches have shown that high intake of saturated fat and simple carbohydrates damage the performance of the hippocampus, which is essential for learning and memory.
