Scientists have long been debating the relative contributions of genes vs environment, nature vs nurture, to our IQ level.
I am going to state point blank that the environment has a much greater impact than we may have been led to believe. Environmental factors include:
- parenting practices
- nutrition
- physical exercise
- education
- targeted brain training
These environmental factor have a greater influence on intelligence than our genes do, even among affluent, educated groups. This has been argued in painstaking detail by Nisbett in his 2009 book Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Culture Count. This book deserves to have an impact. Something needs to shake the consensus that IQ is a fixed measure. It isn’t. Experience can change it, much as experience – if it is persistent or intense enough – can change personality.
In this blog entry we’re going to look at parenting and IQ – breastfeeding and nutrition.
Breast Feeding & IQ
The duration of breastfeeding during infancy is linked to higher IQ in children. Breastfeeding (compared to not breastfeeding) during infancy is associated with a 2–5 point IQ advantage for full-term infants and 8 point advantage for those of low birth weight. These are striking effects. If your baby is premature it is especially critical to breast feed – or supply the equivalent nutrients – for the child’s cognitive development.
Nutrition
In a recent carefully controlled study looking at the association between intelligence and diet at 3.5 and 7 years, with a sample of around 600 children, a number of dietary factors to be significantly and positively associated with intelligence. These included the following:
Breads and cereals
- At 3.5 years a 4 point IQ advantage for children who ate breads or cereals at least four times per day compared to those who did not.
Why bread and cereal. Most likely because of the iron and folate content – both of which are known to be important in cognitive development.
Fish
- At 7 years, a 3.5 point IQ advantage for children who at fish at least weekly compared to those who did not.
Fish contains a number of nutrients that have been associated with cognitive functioning. It is a good source of protein, bioavailable iron, zinc, vitamin B-12 and iodine. Perhaps most importantly fish provides a rich source of the ’smart fat’ omega-3 which is known to benefit cognitive development.
Margarine
- Children who ate margarine daily had IQ scores that were approximately 3 points lower than children who did not.
- This negative impact of margarine on IQ was even greater for children who were born underweight: at 7 years of age, these children who ate margarine at least daily had a 6 point lower IQ compared to 7 year olds who did not eat margarine daily!
Staying clear of margarine is particularly important for babies who are born small.
Butter, on the other hand, was found not to have a negative impact on intelligence.
- At 3.5 years of age butter was in fact positively associated with intelligence for babies born underweight.
So don’t confuse margarine and butter in your baby’s diet! Stick to butter.
Why is margarine bad?
It is likely that it is the trans fatty acids or hydrogenated fats in margarine that are the culprit. Trans fatty acids have been associated with poorer cognitive performance in adults. And trans fatty acids may impair the metabolism of ‘smart fats’ like Omega 3.
1 Line Take home
The environment matters a lot to cognitive development and IQ level. We learned here that breast milk, bread, cereal and fish are good for IQ, and margarine is bad. Butter isn’t a problem.
Related posts:
I find this actually very useful; information of this type is important as it helps to support a child’s proper development.
I found your website while stumbling. It helped me do my research on this topic. I have read most of them and got a lot from them. You have something good going here, keep it up!