Study to look at link between nutrition and behaviour
A new study is to be launched in three UK prisons to investigate the link between diet and behaviour, it has emerged.
Previous research has suggested that dietary supplements can help to reduce violent behaviour.
Now, researchers at the University of Oxford will give nutritional supplements to 16 to 21-year-old inmates at young offenders institutions to see if they have any effect.
Prisoners will receive the recommended daily amount of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, funded through a £1.4 million award from medical research charity the Wellcome Trust.
Dr Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust, commented: "If this study shows that nutritional supplementation affects behaviour, it could have profound significance for nutrition guidelines not only within the criminal justice system, but in the wider community, in schools, for example.
"We are all used to nutritional guidelines for our physical health, but this study could lead to revisions taking into account our mental health as well."
A new study is to be launched in three UK prisons to investigate the link between diet and behaviour, it has emerged.
