In a move to improve the behaviour of inmates and cut violence in UK prisons, authorities have decided to provide them with vitamins and mineral supplements.
According to the Daily Telegraph, a research to find the connection between the diet of young offenders and their behaviour will be funded by The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), where a cross-party group of MPs and peers will be publishing a study to show the benefits of nutritional supplements in improving the education and criminal justice systems.The study will be led by Bernard Gesch, a scientist at Oxford University's Laboratory of Physiology.
According to some scientists, a diet low in important nutrients encourages violent and disruptive behaviour in children and young adults.
The MoJ is planning to test that theory at two young offenders' institutions later this year by using vitamin and mineral supplements.
While the inmates at one institution will be given pills containing vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, the subjects at the other will be given placebos.
Gesch argues that a potential factor in crime and anti-social behaviour is the modern diet, which is heavy in sugars and additives but poor in key minerals.
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