fwd: Intelligent Children More Likely To Become Vegetarian

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original article:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061215090916.htm

 

Intelligent Children More Likely To Become Vegetarian

 

ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2006) - Intelligent children may be more

likely to be vegetarian as adults, suggests a study published

online

by the British Medical Journal.

 

Recent evidence suggests that vegetarianism may be linked to lower

cholesterol levels and a reduced risk of obesity and heart

disease.

This might help to explain why children who score higher on

intelligence tests tend to have a lower risk of coronary heart

disease in later life.

 

The study involved 8179 men and women aged 30 years whose IQ was

tested at age 10 years.

 

Twenty years later, 366 (4.5%) of participants said they were

vegetarian. Of these, 9 (2.5%) were vegan and 123 (33.6%) stated

they

were vegetarian but reported eating fish or chicken.

 

Vegetarians were more likely to be female, to be of higher

occupational social class and to have higher academic or

vocational

qualifications than non-vegetarians, although these differences

were

not reflected in their annual income, which was similar to that of

non-vegetarians.

 

Higher IQ at the age of 10 years was associated with an increased

likelihood of being vegetarian at the age of 30. This relation was

partly accounted for by better education and higher occupational

social class, but it remained statistically significant after

adjusting for these factors.

 

There was no difference in IQ score between strict vegetarians and

those who said they were vegetarian but who reported eating fish

or

chicken.

 

The finding that children with greater intelligence are more

likely

to report being vegetarian as adults, together with the evidence

on

the potential benefits of a vegetarian diet on heart health, may

help

to explain why higher IQ in childhood or adolescence is linked with

a

reduced risk of coronary heart disease in adult life, write the

authors.

 

Alternatively, the link may be merely an example of many other

lifestyle preferences that might be expected to vary with

intelligence, but which may or may not have implications for

health,

they conclude.