The pursuit of ideal attention and cognitive performance in school-aged children continues to be a major goal in the constantly changing world of education. Diet has a vital part in influencing a child’s cognitive capacities among other elements that affect their capacity to focus and learn. A potential link between the MIND Diet and better attention in school-aged children has been shown by recent study, which provides light on the diet.
A dietary strategy known as the MIND Diet was created expressly to support brain function and lower the risk of cognitive decline in older persons. This diet places a focus on the intake of foods that improve cognition while reducing foods linked to cognitive impairment. Although the MIND Diet was primarily designed for adults, experts are now interested in learning more about how it affects younger groups, notably school-aged children.
In a recent study, a group of scientists from the American Society for Nutrition found that a diet designed primarily to prevent cognitive decline in adults may also improve attention in preadolescents. The Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) and the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet, which emphasizes brain health by combining the Mediterranean and DASH diets, were the two diets that were the subject of the study.
Lead author of the study Shelby Keye, PhD, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, discovered a favorable correlation between children’s performance on an attentional inhibition test and their adherence to the MIND diet. “The capacity to withstand distractors — and discovered that only the MIND diet was favorably correlated with kids’ performance on an attentional inhibition challenge. This implies that the MIND diet may have the ability to enhance children’s cognitive development, which is crucial for academic achievement,” she added.
The study examined data from a prior cross-sectional study that included 85 kids between the ages of 7 and 11. The kids filled out a seven-day food diary, and the HEI-2015 and MIND diet adherence rates were determined. They also completed an attentional inhibition test; accuracy and response time were measured. To prevent potential confounding variables, the research did not include kids with neurological problems like ADHD or autism.
The findings showed that greater accuracy on the attentional inhibition test was linked with better MIND diet adherence. However, the researchers advise that more intervention studies would be required to conclusively prove any causal association.
Important Elements of the MIND Diet
The Mind Diet focuses on include certain food categories that have been linked to advantageous effects on cognition. It emphasizes the importance of whole grains like oats, quinoa, and brown rice, as well as vegetables like leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, and colorful fruit. It also highlights nuts and legumes. Omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for brain development and cognitive function, are also found in fatty seafood like salmon and tuna.