In a new study from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, researchers found that organic food intake is linked to better scores on tests of fluid intelligence (ability to solve novel reasoning problems) and working memory (the ability of the brain to retain new information while it is needed in the short term).
The explanation for this association may be that healthy diets, including organic diets, are richer than fast food diets in nutrients necessary for the brain, such as fatty acids, vitamins and antioxidants, which together may enhance cognitive function in childhood.
The study also found that fast food intake, house crowding and environmental tobacco smoke during childhood were linked to lower fluid intelligence scores.
In addition, exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) indoors was linked to lower working memory scores.
In the study, the team used data on 1,298 children aged 6-11 years from six European country-specific birth cohorts (United Kingdom, France, Spain, Greece, Lithuania and Norway).
The researchers looked at 87 environmental factors the children were exposed to in utero (air pollution, traffic, noise, various chemicals and lifestyle factors) and another 122 factors they were exposed to during childhood.
They found that the main determinants of fluid intelligence and working memory in children are organic diet, fast-food diet, crowdedness of the family home, indoor air pollution and tobacco smoke.
They found better scores in fluid intelligence and working memory with higher organic food intake and lower fast-food intake.
In addition, exposure to tobacco smoke and indoor PM2.5 during childhood may negatively affect cognitive function by enhancing pro-inflammatory reactions in the brain.
These findings suggest that several prenatal environmental pollutants (indoor air pollution and tobacco smoke) and lifestyle habits during childhood (diet, sleep and family social capital) were associated with behavioral problems in children.
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The study is published in Environmental Pollution.
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