Eating hamburgers, fries or other pizzas several times a week as a child puts you at risk of having more poor results in school.
Fast food isn’t just bad for your health – it’s also bad for your cognitive development, according to a study published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics.
In order to arrive at these results, researchers at Ohio State University analyzed data from 11,740 students. During their fifth grade (5th grade in the United States), these students filled out a questionnaire on their eating habits, which allowed the researchers to realize that only 29% of the children declared that they had not eaten fast food. the week preceding the questionnaire. Conversely, 10% of the children reported having eaten fast food every day, 10% 4 to 6 times this week, and the others, one to three times the week preceding the questionnaire.
20% worse results
The children then completed a reading, math and science test, and additional tests were taken at the end of third.
The results show that children who ate fast food 4 to 6 times a week, or every day, performed 20% worse in math, reading and science than those who ate none at all. Children who ate fast food only one to three times a week performed worse in maths only.
The researchers explain that their results hold true, even after taking into account other factors, such as exercise, time spent watching television, the socioeconomic status of the family, or the type of food they eat. outside of fast food.
Nutrient deficiency
Although researchers say they are unable to explain why consuming fast food in 5th grade affected their results in 3rd grade, they note that other studies have shown that this mode of eating leads to nutrient deficiencies associated with development. cognitive, such as iron.
Additionally, they explain that other previous studies have linked foods high in fat and sugar to deterioration in memory and learning skills.
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