The mental age of children eating plant-based diets appears to exceed their peers.
IQ of Vegetarian Children
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Okay, so the bronze goes to hormonal genital meat malformation. The silver goes to a study on IQ and vegetarianism. First, let me share a little background. We’ve known for nearly 30 years that vegetarian children test smarter than omnivorous kids. First shown in a 1980 study by Tufts University, the IQ of vegetarian children was found to be about 16 points above average. And their “mental age” was a year ahead of the rest of their classmates. Of all the veg kids, the vegan kids appeared the smartest. The pediatricians and psychologists knew the veg kids were bright, but the researchers noted that they were puzzled that they were so much superior.
Which came first, though? The chicken or the egg? Well, for the vegan kids, neither, perhaps. But were they smart because they were vegetarians, and therefore getting all that good nutrition—or did they become vegetarian because they were so smart? Well, the mystery has finally been solved—I guess. Those fantastic Brits followed 8,000 kids for 30 years. Measured their IQ at age 10, then came back 20 years later and asked which of them had become vegetarian during that time. Their findings? Higher scores for IQ in childhood are associated with an increased likelihood of being a vegetarian as an adult. Smart people evidently eat vegetarian. They even quote Benjamin Franklin saying vegetarian diets result in “greater clearness of head and quicker comprehension.”
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
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- C. R. Gale, I. J. Deary, I. Schoon, and G. D. Batty. IQ in childhood and vegetarianism in adulthood: 1970 british cohort study. BMJ, 334(7587):245, 2007.
- J.T. Dwyer, L.G. Miller, N.L. Arduino, E.M. Andrew, W.H. Dietz Jr, J.C. Reed, H.B. Reed Jr,. Mental age and I.Q. of predominantly vegetarian children. J Am Diet Assoc, 76(2):142-7, 1980.
Okay, so the bronze goes to hormonal genital meat malformation. The silver goes to a study on IQ and vegetarianism. First, let me share a little background. We’ve known for nearly 30 years that vegetarian children test smarter than omnivorous kids. First shown in a 1980 study by Tufts University, the IQ of vegetarian children was found to be about 16 points above average. And their “mental age” was a year ahead of the rest of their classmates. Of all the veg kids, the vegan kids appeared the smartest. The pediatricians and psychologists knew the veg kids were bright, but the researchers noted that they were puzzled that they were so much superior.
Which came first, though? The chicken or the egg? Well, for the vegan kids, neither, perhaps. But were they smart because they were vegetarians, and therefore getting all that good nutrition—or did they become vegetarian because they were so smart? Well, the mystery has finally been solved—I guess. Those fantastic Brits followed 8,000 kids for 30 years. Measured their IQ at age 10, then came back 20 years later and asked which of them had become vegetarian during that time. Their findings? Higher scores for IQ in childhood are associated with an increased likelihood of being a vegetarian as an adult. Smart people evidently eat vegetarian. They even quote Benjamin Franklin saying vegetarian diets result in “greater clearness of head and quicker comprehension.”
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- C. R. Gale, I. J. Deary, I. Schoon, and G. D. Batty. IQ in childhood and vegetarianism in adulthood: 1970 british cohort study. BMJ, 334(7587):245, 2007.
- J.T. Dwyer, L.G. Miller, N.L. Arduino, E.M. Andrew, W.H. Dietz Jr, J.C. Reed, H.B. Reed Jr,. Mental age and I.Q. of predominantly vegetarian children. J Am Diet Assoc, 76(2):142-7, 1980.
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Title
IQ of Vegetarian Children
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
How does diet impact intelligence? Learn more:
Mercury vs. Omega-3s for Brain Development
The Effect of Canned Tuna on Future Wages
Does a Drink Of Water Make Children Smarter?
And for more on children’s health and nutrition:
- How to Prevent Prediabetes in Children
- Infectobesity: Adenovirus 36 and Childhood Obesity
- How Fast Can Children Detoxify from PCBs?
- PCBs in Children’s Fish Oil Supplements
- Preventing Asthma With Fruits and Vegetables
And check out my other videos on children.
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