Dear Editor,
I am not sure that many people are aware of a vast body of ongoing research concerning poor nutrition and violent behaviour. There have been numerous studies on the matter, including one study reported by the National Institutes of Health at two schools in Phoenix, Arizona, US (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10706231). In this study the incidence of violent and other antisocial behaviour fell by about 40 per cent during a stratified randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which vitamin-mineral supplementation at only 50 per cent of the US recommended daily allowance (RDA) for four months was performed.
Doesn’t this suggest that Security Minister Peter Bunting’s crime reduction efforts might be failing in part because it is running against our rate of undernourishment, as indicated by the United Nations report that says there are about 200,000 undernourished people in Jamaica. And this, probably, underestimates nutrient, vitamin and mineral deficiencies in Jamaicans caused by poor diet as a result of the effects of the stringent International Monetary Fun requirements being pursued by the Ministry of Finance?
Doesn’t it suggest that what one ministry is doing counteracts the efforts of another? Don’t you just love a cheap sugary (nutrient, vitamin and mineral deficient) bag juice?
Howard Chin, PE
hmc14@cwjamaica.com
I am not sure that many people are aware of a vast body of ongoing research concerning poor nutrition and violent behaviour. There have been numerous studies on the matter, including one study reported by the National Institutes of Health at two schools in Phoenix, Arizona, US (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10706231). In this study the incidence of violent and other antisocial behaviour fell by about 40 per cent during a stratified randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which vitamin-mineral supplementation at only 50 per cent of the US recommended daily allowance (RDA) for four months was performed.
Doesn’t this suggest that Security Minister Peter Bunting’s crime reduction efforts might be failing in part because it is running against our rate of undernourishment, as indicated by the United Nations report that says there are about 200,000 undernourished people in Jamaica. And this, probably, underestimates nutrient, vitamin and mineral deficiencies in Jamaicans caused by poor diet as a result of the effects of the stringent International Monetary Fun requirements being pursued by the Ministry of Finance?
Doesn’t it suggest that what one ministry is doing counteracts the efforts of another? Don’t you just love a cheap sugary (nutrient, vitamin and mineral deficient) bag juice?
Howard Chin, PE
hmc14@cwjamaica.com