In 1979 Dunedin Professor Jim Flynn discovered IQ – the measure of human intelligence – had risen each decade from the 1930s.
Ironically, by then the “Flynn Effect” was potentially already at its peak. In the mid 1990s a Norwegian study found the IQs of those born in the 1995 was 5 points lower than the previous generation born in the mid-70s. Other European countries were making similar findings.
It’s not nice to think you might be stupider than your parents, so it’s hardly surprising, some believed the testing itself was at fault. Still others wondered about environmental impacts – specifically diet.
In Just Cause and Effect – Selenium Deficiency in New Zealand we look at the Flynn Effect and the work of Swedish Researcher Helena Skroder Loveborn whose study of the impact of micronutrient deficiencies including looking at how selenium effects the brain development of babies. She found babies whose mother’s had higher selenium levels particularly in the crucial third trimester, were quicker to develop motor and language skills, by six those babies had measurably higher IQs which continued up to the age of 10-years.
We look at lots of other things too – what is the soil makeup of New Zealand, how does that impact our rates of cancer, heart disease, asthma, cot death, even life expectancy.
If you read only one book this year, this should be it. Buy it online here, or check it out at your local library.
