so whats my excuse then?

[Guest guest]

original study link here

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/bmj.39030.675069.55v1

 

Kids With High IQs Grow Up to Be Vegetarians By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

Fri Dec 15, 2:01 PM ET

 

FRIDAY, Dec. 15 (HealthDay News) -- As a child's IQ rises, his taste for meat in

adulthood declines, a new study suggests.

 

 

British researchers have found that children's IQ predicts their likelihood of

becoming vegetarians as young adults -- lowering their risk for cardiovascular

disease in the process. The finding could explain the link between smarts and

better health, the investigators say.

 

 

" Brighter people tend to have healthier dietary habits, " concluded lead author

Catharine Gale, a senior research fellow at the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre

of the University of Southampton and Southampton General Hospital.

 

 

Recent studies suggest that vegetarianism may be associated with lower

cholesterol, reduced risk of obesity and heart disease. This might explain why

children with high IQs tend to have a lower risk of heart disease in later life.

 

 

The report is published in the Dec. 15 online edition of the British Medical

Journal.

 

 

" We know from other studies that brighter children tend to behave in a healthier

fashion as adults -- they're less likely to smoke, less likely to be overweight,

less likely to have high blood pressure and more likely to take strenuous

exercise, " Gale said. " This study provides further evidence that people with a

higher IQ tend to have a healthier lifestyle. "

 

 

In the study, Gale's team collected data on nearly 8,200 men and women aged 30,

whose IQ had been tested when they were 10 years of age.

 

 

" Children who scored higher on IQ tests at age 10 were more likely than those

who got lower scores to report that they were vegetarian at the age of 30, " Gale

said.

 

 

The researchers found that 4.5 percent of participants were vegetarians. Of

these, 2.5 percent were vegan, and 33.6 percent said they were vegetarian but

also ate fish or chicken.

 

 

There was no difference in IQ score between strict vegetarians and those who

said they were vegetarian but who said they ate fish or chicken, the researchers

add.

 

 

Vegetarians were more likely to be female, of higher social class and better

educated, but IQ was still a significant predictor of being vegetarian after

adjustment for these factors, Gale said.

 

 

" Vegetarian diets are associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk in a

number of studies, so these findings suggest that a such a diet may help to

explain why children or adolescents with a higher IQ have a lower risk of

coronary heart disease as adults, " Gale said.

 

 

One expert said the findings aren't the whole answer, however.

 

 

" This study left many unanswered questions such as: Did the vegetarian children

grow up in a household with a vegetarian parent? Were meatless meals regularly

served in the household? Were the children eating a primarily vegetarian diet at

the age of 10? " said Lona Sandon, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition

at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

 

 

" In addition, we don't know the beliefs or attitudes of the parents of the

children, nor do we know if there was a particular event that led these children

to becoming vegetarian in their teens or adulthood, " Sandon said.

 

 

As the study showed, more women than men chose a vegetarian diet, Sandon noted.

" Other research shows that women in general will focus more on their health than

men. So, if they believe that a vegetarian diet will have health benefits, they

are more likely to follow it, " she said.

 

 

Given these factors, " we cannot draw any solid conclusions from this research, "

Sandon added.

 

 

Another expert agreed that a vegetarian diet is healthy.

 

" The evidence linking vegetarianism to good health outcomes is very strong, "

said Dr. David L. Katz, the director of the Prevention Research Center and an

associate professor of public health at the Yale University School of Medicine.

 

" Studies, for example, of vegetarian Seventh-Day Adventists in California

suggest that they have lower rates of almost all major chronic diseases, and

greater longevity, than their omnivorous counterparts, " Katz said. " Evidence is

also strong and consistent that greater intelligence, higher education, and

loftier social status -- which tend to cluster with one another -- also

correlate with good health. "

 

History repeats itself

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