Experts Review Evidence on How Nutrition Influences Teen Cognitive and Academic Outcomes | Newswise – Newswise

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Newswise — Washington D.C. – A new study examines how diet influences cognitive performance and educational attainment of young people between the ages 8 and 19 by reviewing over 73 research papers.
The resulting study, leveraging systematic review methods and carried out by Swansea University scientists, synthesizes evidence from 48 controlled trials and 25 prospective studies. The results suggest that unhealthy diets in the first three years of life could adversely impact intelligence later in adolescence.
To further advance research in this underexplored field, the authors propose 7 guiding principles to strengthen the design, relevance and importance of future studies on adolescent nutrition and brain health. Adopting a “life-course” perspective, looking at nutrients as a group instead of in isolation, and using valid biomarkers could improve studies, among other recommendations the authors make.

The paper appears in the peer-reviewed journal Advances in Nutrition and was supported by IAFNS Cognitive Health Committee.
Prospective studies provide evidence that unhealthy dietary patterns during infancy, especially the first year of life, may negatively affect intelligence during adolescence.
After infancy, adolescence constitutes a second window of “neuroplasticity,” in brain development, marked by widespread structural and functional reorganization driven in part by hormonal and endocrine shifts during puberty.
According to the authors, “In recognition of the hierarchical nature of brain maturation — where later neurocognitive development is scaffolded upon earlier developmental milestones — the review also incorporates longitudinal studies, exploring associations between early-life diet … and cognitive and academic performance during adolescence…”
The identified literature examined iron, iodine, choline, Vitamin D, polyphenols, fatty acids, grains and multi-nutrient interventions, among others.
The findings “…suggest that the apparent inconsistency in the literature should not be interpreted as evidence that diet is unimportant for adolescent cognitive or academic outcomes. Instead, the impact of diet appears contingent on who is studied, when in development exposure occurs, what is delivered (and for how long), which domains are assessed, and the context in which interventions are implemented,” according to the paper.
The paper concludes that “More research is needed to determine whether adolescence represents a window of opportunity for optimizing cognitive development via nutritional interventions.”
According to Professor Hayley Young, “The foundations of cognitive health appear to be laid very early in life, and the effects can still be seen in adolescence. The open question is whether adolescence itself is a second window of opportunity — and that’s exactly what better-designed studies now need to establish.”
The paper is freely available here.
The Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS) is committed to leading positive change across the food and beverage ecosystem. This paper was supported by IAFNS Cognitive Health Committee. IAFNS is a 501(c)(3) science-focused nonprofit uniquely positioned to mobilize government, industry and academia to drive, fund and lead actionable research. iafns.org
Journal Link: Advances in Nutrition
Marie Latulippe
Director of Science Programs
Advances in Nutrition
Connecting Research and Experts with Journalists
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