London, August 10 (ANI): Dietary patterns of children aged six months to two years can affect their IQ level, a new study has suggested.

It was also found that eating too much chocolate before the age of two can hamper their I. Q by the time they are eight.

On the other hand, the researchers found that eating a healthy diet can give a boost to the intelligence, the Daily Mail reported.

The study conducted by University of Adelaide found that by the age of eight, the 'junk food' tots had IQs up to two points lower as compared to their healthy counterparts.

While the differences in IQ are not huge, this study provides some of the strongest evidence to date that dietary patterns from six to 24 months have a small but significant effect on IQ at eight years of age, the lead researcher, Dr Lisa Smithers said.

It is important that we consider the longer-term impact of the foods we feed our children, she said.

Her team studied the link between the eating habits of children at six months, 15 months and two years, and their IQ at eight years of age.

The study, which was conducted of more than 7000 children, compared a range of dietary patterns, including traditional and contemporary home-prepared food, ready-prepared baby foods, breastfeeding, and 'discretionary' or junk foods.

Diet supplies the nutrients needed for the development of brain tissues in the first two years of life, and the aim of this study was to look at what impact diet would have on children's IQs, Dr Smithers said.

Breastfed kids are more likely to succeed in primary school than those who are brought up on fizzy drinks.

We found that children who were breastfed at six months and had a healthy diet regularly including foods such as legumes, cheese, fruit and vegetables at 15 and 24 months, had an IQ up to two points higher by age eight, she said.

Those children who had a diet regularly involving biscuits, chocolate, sweets, soft drinks and chips in the first two years of life had IQs up to two points lower by age eight.

We also found some negative impact on IQ from ready-prepared baby foods given at six months, but some positive associations when given at 24 months, she added.

The study was published in European Journal of Epidemiology. (ANI)