Iron Deficiency in Teenaged Girls Linked With Decline in Cognition
Our kids are eating diets more and more deficient in important nutrients and loaded with junk and chemicals. With findings like this it just stresses how important it is for us, as adults, to be a positive role model. How many parents out there would love for their child to eat healthier, and yet they themselves do not?
The current study was prepared for The nutrition Society’s summer meeting and will be published in the Spring issue of “The nutrition Society 2001.” It was funded by the UK Department of Health. In a study of 595 teen-aged girls, UK researchers have found a significant correlation between low haemoglobin levels and poor cognitive function. “We were surprised that a very small drop in iron levels caused a fall in IQ,” commented principal investigator Dr. Michael Nelson of King’s College in London. “We concluded that poor iron status is common among British adolescent girls, and diet and iron status play an important role in determining IQ, independent of factors such as menstrual status or social class.”