The Hindu Business Line : Intelligent kids turn veggie!

A study conducted by a Southampton University team has come out with the finding that intelligent children are more likely to become vegetarians later in life.

According to news.bbc.co.uk, the study found those who were vegetarian by 30 had recorded five IQ points more on average at the age of 10. Researchers said it could explain why people with higher IQ were healthier as a vegetarian diet was linked to lower heart disease and obesity rates.

The study of 8,179 was reported in the British Medical Journal.

Twenty years after the IQ tests were carried out in 1970, 366 of the participants said they were vegetarian - although more than 100 reported eating either fish or chicken. Men who were vegetarian has an IQ score of 106, compared to non-vegetarians with 101, while female vegetarians averaged 104, compared to 99 for non-vegetarians.

Dr Frankie Phillips of the British Dietetic Association was quoted as saying, "It is like the chicken and the egg. Do people become vegetarian because they have a very high IQ or is it just that they tend to be more aware of health issues?"