Alcatraz (photo courtesy of Library of Congress, circa 1933?)

Most research of anti-social behavior looks into societal factors, but could there be a genetic disposition that leads to criminal behavior? Or do some people come of age in such hellish environments that they are “bred for prison”? Those questions have been around for a long time and are still being explored so that crime might be reduced.

Research findings reported in the British Journal of Psychiatry suggest a much improved diet would help cut crime. During World War II, Dr. Hugh Sinclair persuaded the British government to supplement the diet of all children with cod liver oil and orange juice. He speculated that among other ills, poor diets could lead to antisocial behavior. In the last couple of decades there have been at least 10 clinical studies suggesting that Dr. Sinclair was right about the link between poor diet and poor behavior.

In 1992, a study headed by C. Bernard Gesch, of the University of Oxford's Laboratory of Physiology, tested 231 young adult prisoners for a link between poor nutrition and poor behavior. His study concluded that, “antisocial behavior in prisons, including violence, are reduced by vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids with similar implications for those eating poor diets in the community…to a remarkable degree.”

Not surprisingly, the researchers found that, “…some prisoners did not possess the most basic knowledge to choose a healthy diet; some had not heard of vitamins. Poor food choices by the prisoners typically resulted in lower nutrient intakes, most notably of minerals.”

The tests were conducted with nutritional supplements that were available “over the counter”. An expert advisory group with no commercial interest in the outcome undertook the selection of nutritional supplements, based on formulation. Although the intake of nutrients could be improved with a diet of healthy foods, nutritional supplements provided a known quantity of micronutrients and allowed for the use of a double blind, placebo-controlled design to test the hypothesis that supplementary vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids would significantly reduce the rate of disciplinary incidents.

The researchers did not claim, “…that nutrition is the only cause of antisocial behavior but the difference in outcome between the Active and Placebo groups could not be explained by ethnic or social factors, as they were controlled for by the randomized design.”

Mr. Gesch was joined in the trial by a team with diverse expertise that included Sean M. Hammond of University College in Cork, Ireland, Sarah E. Hampson and Anita Eves of the University of Surrey, England, Anita Eves, and Martin J. Crowder of Imperial College, London.