Prison Study Link Between Junk Food and Violence

OXFORD, United Kingdom — A three-year study will examine whether dietary improvements can reduce criminal violence and antisocial behavior among offenders at juvenile justice facilities.

The $2.8 million study, which will be conducted by scientists from Oxford University, will provide recommended levels of more than 30 vitamins, minerals and fatty acids and examine whether nutritional improvements correlate with a reduction in the number of disciplinary infractions.

The brain cannot function properly without an adequate supply of essential nutrients, so improving nutrition has the potential to exert an important influence and mitigate antisocial and criminal behavior, researchers say.

When deprived of essential nutrients, particularly omega-3 fatty acids — a central building block of neurons — the brain loses critical structural malleability and functional flexibility, which negatively impacts higher-order executive functions, such as decision-making, reasoning, concentration, impulsivity and self-control, experts say.

Although prison menus offer nutritious foods, offenders tend make poor dietary choices that undermine their long-term health, researchers say.

A 2002 pilot study of 231 offenders observed a 37 percent decrease in the number of violent offenses committed by participants receiving dietary supplements. Researchers also recorded a 26 percent reduction in the total number disciplinary infractions committed by participants.

Funded by the Wellcome Trust — a U.K.-based philanthropic organization that invests almost $400 million annually in biomedical research — the new study will involve 1,000 offenders ages 16 to 21 at juvenile justice facilities in Falkirk, Scotland, and Manchester and Lancashire in England.

Researchers will monitor the frequency and degree of disciplinary infractions, such as drug-related offenses and incidents of violence and self-harm, perpetrated by participants during a 12-month period where subjects are taking dietary supplements.

Randomly selected and divided into two groups, one group of participants will receive food supplements in addition to their normal diet to raise their intake of vitamins, minerals and fatty acids to recommended dietary levels. A second control group will receive a placebo.