A new study, the first of its kind, has found a direct link between what a child eats and their mental health and wellbeing. Parents know that food is important for their child’s health. It is essential that they are getting the right nutrients and vitamins to make sure that their body grows nice and strong. It can also be a battle for a lot of moms who are dealing with a picky eater. However, now it appears that the foods our children eat can directly impact their mental health as well, and it may be even more important to make sure our children eat their vegetables.
According to Medical Xpress, a new study was done that shows that children who eat more fruits and vegetables have better mental health. This study was done by the University of East Anglia and can be read in full here.
This is the first study to investigate the link between fruit and vegetable intake, breakfast and lunch choices and mental health in the UK. The results showed that children who ate five (or more) portions of fruits and vegetables a day had the highest scores when it came to their mental wellbeing.
The researchers are stating that their research shows that public health strategies and school policies need to be developed to make sure children are receiving all the nutrients they need. They also state that it needs to be made available, that they need to make sure that children have access to foods that allow them to thrive. Ailsa Welch was the lead researcher, and they said that mental health in youth is becoming a prominent problem, and one that more and more people are becoming aware of, and this means that work needs to be done to see how it can be supported and resolved.
They were inspired to complete this study because what is already known is that there is a link between nutrition and physical health, but they wanted to explore what nutrition means for emotional health. They looked at data from 9,000 students in 50 different schools. Children were asked to report their choices at breakfast and lunch and they then took part in an (age-appropriate) test of mental wellbeing. They found that only a small percentage of children were getting the recommended 5 servings a day of fruits and vegetables, but those children scored highest on the mental wellbeing tests.
Sources: Medical Xpress, BMJ Open