Violent adults 'more likely to have had daily diet of sweets'

Published on Wednesday 30 September 2009 22:35

AGGRESSIVE adults are more likely than their non-violent peers to have eaten sweets every day as children, according to new research.

The study, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, is the first to examine the long-term effects of childhood diet on adult violence.

Analysis of almost 17,500 participants in the 1970 British Cohort Study found that ten-year-olds who ate confectionery daily were significantly more likely to have been convicted for violence between the ages of 29 and 34.

Researchers from Cardiff University found that 69 per cent of those who were violent at that age had eaten sweets and chocolate nearly every day during childhood, compared with 42 per cent who were non-violent.

This link between confectionery and violence remained after controlling other factors.