Brain development and cognitive function require a proper diet. A diet high in nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals promotes brain cell and neural connection growth. Reading is an important practice for children’s cognitive development. It helps to improve vocabulary, understanding, critical thinking, and reasoning abilities.
Reasoning abilities are essential for learning, academic success, and everyday problem-solving. According to a recent study conducted at the University of Eastern Finland, improved overall diet quality and reduced red meat consumption, as well as increased time spent reading and participating in organized activities, improved reasoning skills in children throughout their first two school years.
“Children with healthier eating habits showed greater cognitive development than other children. Specifically, better overall diet quality, lower red meat consumption, and higher low-fat dairy product intake were linked to better reasoning skills,” says Doctoral Researcher Sehrish Naveed of the University of Eastern Finland.
Children with healthier eating habits showed greater cognitive development than other children. Specifically, better overall diet quality, lower red meat consumption, and higher low-fat dairy product intake were linked to better reasoning skills.
Sehrish Naveed
Children who spent more time reading and participating in organized sports performed better in reasoning tests than their peers. Excessive computer use and unsupervised leisure-time physical activity, on the other hand, were linked to weaker thinking skills. Screen time, active school transportation, recess physical activity, and intensity of physical activity were not related to thinking skills.
More than half of the children took part in a two-year family-based and individually tailored food and physical activity intervention. The intervention, however, had no effect on reasoning skills, with children in the intervention and control groups displaying identical cognitive development.
“Diet and physical activity intervention is only one-factor influencing lifestyle and reasoning skills in growing children’s lives. According to our findings, investing in a nutritious diet and encouraging children to read benefit the development of reasoning skills in youngsters. “Participating in organized sports also appears to support reasoning skills,” says Dr. Eero Haapala.
The findings of this study, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, are based on data from the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) study. The effects of a two-year nutrition and physical activity intervention on cognition in 397 Finnish primary school students were investigated in this sub-study.
Over a two-year period, the correlations of dietary variables, physical activity, and sedentary behavior with cognition were also investigated. The studies took into account parental education and income, as well as the children’s body fat percentage and maturity level.
Encouraging youngsters to eat healthily, read on a regular basis, and engage in sports or physical activities can have a synergistic effect on their cognitive development, including reasoning skills. Furthermore, a supportive and engaging atmosphere at home and at school might help to develop these talents.
