MIND diet linked with better focus in school-aged children: Study

“We assessed how adherence to these diets was associated with children’s attentional inhibition–the ability to resist distracting stimuli–and found that only the MIND diet was positively linked with children’s performance on a task assessing attentional inhibition,” said Shelby Keye, PhD, who performed the work as a doctoral student in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

“This suggests that the MIND diet could potentially improve children’s cognitive development, which is important for success in school,” she said.

Much like the Mediterranean and DASH diets on which it is based, the MIND diet includes recommendations for specific foods, such as fresh fruit, leafy greens and legumes, which promote brain health. Previously, the MIND diet has been shown to impact adults positively, but very few studies have been performed on children.

The new research used data collected by a previous cross-sectional study that observed 85 participants from 7 to 11 years of age who completed a seven-day diet record, from which HEI-2015 and the MIND diet scores were calculated.

To examine attentional inhibition, participants were also required to complete a task that needed spatial attention and executive control, with their reaction time and accuracy recorded. Children with neurological disorders were excluded to reduce confounding factors from the study.

The researchers discovered that the MIND diet scores only positively correlated with study participants’ accuracy on the task, meaning that those who followed the MIND diet performed better. However, the researchers noted that an intervention study is necessary to make any causal inferences.

Next, the researchers would like to examine the relationship between the MIND diet and different age groups of children to determine if the developmental effect is involved.

What is MIND diet? 

Those who better followed the MIND diet performed better on the task. (Source: Freepik)

According to Dr Ajay Aggarwal, Director – Internal Medicine, Fortis Hospital, Noida, the MIND diet is a hybrid of the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet (DASH). The diet recommends incorporating leafy green vegetables, non-starchy veggies, berries, nuts, olive oil, fish, poultry, eggs, beans and legumes in food.

The MIND diet has various health benefits. “It contributes to brain health through its food components that have antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. Vitamin E and antioxidants found in green leafy vegetables and nuts protect neurons from damage related to oxidative stress caused by free radicals. In animal models, berries consumption has been shown to increase neurogenesis, insulin-like growth factor-1 signalling and reverse neuronal ageing by reducing oxidative stress,” Dr Aggarwal said.

A cross-sectional study demonstrated that lower adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with increased atrophy on the specific brain regions for Alzheimer’s disease,” Dr Aggarwal added.

Although originally designed to help ward off cognitive decline in adults, the expert noted that it might also help improve attention in preadolescents. Adherence to the MIND diet is associated with children’s attentional inhibition — the ability to resist distracting stimuli.

However, Dr Aggarwal highlighted that the casual relationship between dietary patterns and children’s attention span required stronger evidence. Moreover, the lack of specific guidelines on applying the MIND diet in their daily lives makes it challenging for individuals in meal planning and adherence.

Additionally, the expert said you must modify the diet to accommodate your needs if you have allergies or intolerances to specific foods emphasised in the MIND diet, such as nuts, fish or dairy.

“For example, individuals with kidney issues may need to limit their potassium intake, which is typically high in the MIND diet due to its emphasis on fruits and vegetables. Meanwhile, pregnant or breastfeeding women may need additional nutrients not fully covered by the MIND diet,” he said.

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