Is Poor Nutrition Driving Children Into Neurodivergence?

By Patrick Holford, BSc, DipION, FBANT, NTCRP

As Britain tussles with the prospect of ever more young people finding themselves incapable of work, we are thrilled to be able to present you an exclusive guest feature by Patrick Holford, a world-renowned nutritionist, author of 46 books, and long-time friend and associate of ANH.

Over 40 years ago, in 1984, Patrick founded the Institute for Optimum Nutrition which has been one of the most important educators in the field of nutritional therapy in the United Kingdom (U.K.).

He’s also the founder and chair of the Food for the Brain Foundation Scientific Advisory Board and acts in a voluntary capacity as director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Project.

In this article, Patrick highlights the alarming rise in mental health and ‘neurodivergence’ issues among young people, typically characterized by high levels of anxiety, sadness, low self-esteem, and feelings of hopelessness.

Along with an unprecedented increase in the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, it is clear the mainstream approaches are not capable of managing this growing throughput.