BETTER MENTAL HEALTH FOR CHILDREN WHO EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.

-

 

BETTER MENTAL HEALTH FOR CHILDREN WHO EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.








According to new research from the University of East Anglia, children who eat a better diet packed with fruit and vegetables have better mental wellbeing.

A new study published today is the first to investigate the association between fruit and vegetable intakes, breakfast and lunch choices, and the mental wellbeing of UK school children.

It shows how eating more fruit and veg is linked with better wellbeing among secondary school pupils. And children who consumed five or more portions of fruit and veg a day had the highest mental wwellbeingcores.

The study was led by UEA Health and Social Care Partners in collaboration with Norfolk County Council.

The research team says that public health strategies and school policies should be developed to ensure that good quality nutrition is available to all children before and during school to optimize mental wewellbeingnd empower children to fulfill their full potential.

Lead researcher Prof Ailsa Welch, from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "We know that poor mental wellbeing is a significant issue for young people and is likely to have long-term negative consequences.

"The pressures of social media and modern school culture have been touted as potential reasons for a rising prevalence of low mental wellbeing children and young people.

"And there is a growing recognition of the importance of mental health and wellbeing early life -- not least because adolescent mental health problems often persist into adulthood, leading to poorer life outcomes and achievement.

"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 wewellbeingSo, we set out to investigate the association between dietary choices and mental wewellbeingmong schoolchildren."

The research team studied data from almost 9,000 children in 50 schools across Norfolk (7,570 secondary and 1,253 primary school children) taken from the Norfolk children and Young People's Health and wewellbeingurvey.

This survey was commissioned by the Public Health department of Norfolk County Council and the Norfolk Safeguarding Children Board. It was open to all Norfolk schools in October 2017.

Children involved in the study self-reported their dietary choices and took part in age-appropriate tests of mental wewellbeinghat covered cheerfulness, relaxation, and having good interpersonal relationships.

Prof Welch said: "In terms of nutrition, we found that only around a quarter of secondary-school children and 28 percent of primary-school children reported eating the recommended five-a-day fruits and vegetables. And just under one in ten 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 wewellbeingnd took into account other factors that might have an impact -- such as adverse childhood experiences and home situations.

Dr. Richard Hayhoe, also from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "We found that eating well was associated with better mental wellbeing children. And that among secondary school children, in particular, there was a strong link between eating a nutritious diet, packed with fruit and vegetables, and having better mental wellbeing" We also found that the types of breakfast and lunch eaten by both primary and secondary school pupils were also significantly associated with wellbeing"Children who ate a traditional breakfast experienced better wewellbeinghan those who only had a snack or drink. But secondary school children who drank energy drinks for breakfast had particularly low mental wewellbeingcores, even lower than those consuming no breakfast at all.

"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. Again, this is of concern and likely to affect academic performance at school and physical growth and development.

"Another exciting thing that we found was that nutrition had as much or more of an impact on wellbeing factors such as witnessing regular arguing or violence at home.

Prof Welch said: "As a potentially modifiable factor at an individual and societal level, nutrition represents an important public health target for strategies to address childhood mental wewellbeing. "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 to optimitoewellbeingnd empower children to fulfill their full fulfilled."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PEOPLE WITH OBESITY BURN LESS CALORIES DURING THE DAY

-
Image
  PEOPLE WITH OBESITY BURN LESS CALORIES DURING THE DAY Building on prior studies with healthy-weight participants, the new research includes different body sizes.         New research indicates that weight influences how and when bodies burn energy. An Oregon Health & Science University study published in the journal  Obesity  found people who have a healthy weight use more energy during the day, when most people are active and eat, while those who are obese spend more energy during the night when most people sleep. The study also found that during the day, those with obesity have higher levels of the hormone insulin -- a sign that the body is working harder to use glucose, an energy-packed sugar. "It was surprising to learn how dramatically the timing of when our bodies burn energy differed in those with obesity," said the study's first author, Andrew McHill, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the OHSU School of Nursing and the Oregon Institute of ...
Read more

WHAT CAUSES ITCHING, AND WHAT STOPS IT?

-
Image
  WHAT CAUSES ITCHING, AND WHAT STOPS IT?         It can be a relief to scratch the occasional itch, but when itch gets out of control, it can become a severe health problem. How does the body know when to stop? Scientists at UC San Francisco are getting close to an answer. In a breakthrough that could transform how doctors treat conditions from eczema to allergies, they have discovered a feedback loop centered on a single immune protein called IL-31 that causes the urge to itch and dials back nearby inflammation. The findings, published on October 13th in  Science Immunology , lay the groundwork for a new generation of drugs that interact more intelligently with the body's innate self-regulating ability. Previous approaches suggested that IL-31 signals itch and promotes skin inflammation. However, the UCSF team discovered that nerve cells, or neurons, that respond to IL-31, triggering a scratch, also prevent immune cells from overreacting and causing more ...
Read more

A VEGAN DIET IMPROVES CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH, ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY

-
Image
  A VEGAN DIET IMPROVES CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH, ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY         In a study with 22 pairs of identical twins, Stanford Medicine researchers and their colleagues have found that a vegan diet improves cardiovascular health in as little as eight weeks. Although it's well-known that eating less meat improves cardiovascular health, diet studies often need to be enhanced by genetic differences, upbringing, and lifestyle choices. By studying identical twins, however, the researchers were able to control for genetics and limit the other factors, as the twins grew up in the same households and reported similar lifestyles. "Not only did this study provide a groundbreaking way to assert that a vegan diet is healthier than the conventional omnivore diet, but the twins were also a riot to work with," said Christopher Gardner, Ph.D., the Rehnborg Farquhar Professor and a professor of medicine. "They dressed the same, they talked the same, and they had a banter ...
Read more