Intelligent Children More Likely To Become Vegetarian

You can't help but like this headline........ from our friend Pamela Rice at Viva Vegie!

original article, click here:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061215090916.htm

Intelligent Children More Likely To Become Vegetarian

ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2006) - Intelligent children may be more
likely to be vegetarian as adults, suggests a study published online
by the British Medical Journal.

Recent evidence suggests that vegetarianism may be linked to lower
cholesterol levels and a reduced risk of obesity and heart disease.
This might help to explain why children who score higher on
intelligence tests tend to have a lower risk of coronary heart
disease in later life.

The study involved 8179 men and women aged 30 years whose IQ was
tested at age 10 years.

Twenty years later, 366 (4.5%) of participants said they were
vegetarian. Of these, 9 (2.5%) were vegan and 123 (33.6%) stated they
were vegetarian but reported eating fish or chicken.

Vegetarians were more likely to be female, to be of higher
occupational social class and to have higher academic or vocational
qualifications than non-vegetarians, although these differences were
not reflected in their annual income, which was similar to that of
non-vegetarians.

Higher IQ at the age of 10 years was associated with an increased
likelihood of being vegetarian at the age of 30. This relation was
partly accounted for by better education and higher occupational
social class, but it remained statistically significant after
adjusting for these factors.

There was no difference in IQ score between strict vegetarians and
those who said they were vegetarian but who reported eating fish or
chicken.

The finding that children with greater intelligence are more likely
to report being vegetarian as adults, together with the evidence on
the potential benefits of a vegetarian diet on heart health, may help
to explain why higher IQ in childhood or adolescence is linked with a
reduced risk of coronary heart disease in adult life, write the
authors.

Alternatively, the link may be merely an example of many other
lifestyle preferences that might be expected to vary with
intelligence, but which may or may not have implications for health,
they conclude.