THE Tim Noakes Foundation (TNF) has slated a recent health study for failing to provide facts on how children who eat excessive amounts of fatty foods will not only become obese, but also develop cognitive and psychiatric problems when older.
The Springer Nature’s journal Molecular Psychiatry study, titled "Too much fatty food could set children up for mental problems", states diets rich in fat deplete the levels of a key protein known to help nerve cells in the brain work properly.
This then leads to a dip in cognitive functions, such as behavioural flexibility and memory, the study says.
TNF manager Jayne Bullen said various factors needed to be reviewed, as the research was based on the premise that an excessive sugar and carbohydrate intake is causing the obesity crisis in children.
“One thing is that they do not mention the kinds of fats the children were eating, nor how many sugars and carbohydrates were being consumed in this diet.”
Bullen said the sugar and carbohydrate levels ingested in the study needed clarity.
“We also see the massive shift towards childhood obesity is correlated to the increase in dietary carbs and sugars as the world adopted a more carb- and sugar-laden diet,” Bullen said.