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Nutrient intakes, vitamin–mineral supplementation, and intelligence in British schoolchildren

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Michael Nelson ,
Donald J. Naismith ,
Victoria Burley ,
Sue Gatenby  and
Nicola Geddes
Michael Nelson
Affiliation:
Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, King's College London, Campden Hill Road, London W8 7AH
Donald J. Naismith
Affiliation:
Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, King's College London, Campden Hill Road, London W8 7AH
Victoria Burley
Affiliation:
Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, King's College London, Campden Hill Road, London W8 7AH
Sue Gatenby
Affiliation:
Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, King's College London, Campden Hill Road, London W8 7AH
Nicola Geddes
Affiliation:
Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, King's College London, Campden Hill Road, London W8 7AH
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Abstract

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Children (227), aged 7–12 years, weighed and recorded all food and drink consumed for seven consecutive days. Each child completed tests of verbal and non-verbal intelligence, and was then randomly allocated to one of two groups after matching for age, sex, IQ and height. In a double-blind trial lasting for 28 d, one group received a vitamin-mineral supplement daily and the other group a placebo. On re-testing, there were no significant differences in performance between the two groups. Furthermore, there were no consistent correlations between test scores and micronutrient intakes based on the weighed records. Thus, we found no evidence that learning ability in a cross-section of British schoolchildren was limited by the quality of their diets.

Keywords

DietIntelligenceVitamin-mineral supplementationSchoolchildren
Type
Nutritional Surveys – Nutritional Status
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 64 , Issue 1 , July 1990 , pp. 13 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1990

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