How Replacing Junk Food With Healthy Meals Cut Violence in Juvenile Detention by Half

13 January 2021
by: Juicing For Health
in Blog, Wellness

Last updated on

Something strange happened in Los Angeles County’s juvenile detention facilities in the early 1980s. Staff noticed a shift in the atmosphere. Fights decreased. Tensions eased. Disciplinary incidents fell off a cliff. Yet no new counseling programs had been introduced. No additional guards had been hired. No changes to sentencing or supervision had taken place. What changed was lunch. Researchers had convinced facility administrators to make a simple swap. Sugary snacks disappeared from commissaries. Soft drinks vanished from vending machines. High-sugar desserts and cereals were replaced with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Nobody expected much. What happened next would challenge assumptions about behavior, biology, and the justice system itself.

Numbers That Demanded Attention

Stephen Schoenthaler, a criminologist studying the connection between diet and behavior, tracked 1,382 juveniles across three Los Angeles County juvenile halls. After dietary modifications designed to lower daily sugar consumption, antisocial behavior dropped by 44 percent within three months. In three juvenile probation camps housing 289 detainees, a 25 percent reduction followed the same intervention over nine months. A study at the Morris County Juvenile Detention Center in New Jersey produced even more striking results. Removing soft drinks and high-sugar snacks led to a 48 percent reduction in antisocial behavior among juvenile offenders ages 12 to 18. Well-behaved juveniles increased by 71 percent. A larger analysis of 8,000 juvenile inmates across 12 correctional institutions found antisocial behavior decreased by 47 percent after dietary changes. By 1975, researchers examining juveniles incarcerated at the Morristown, New Jersey, Rehabilitation Center had recommended immediate implementation of diet changes in jails and prisons. Nearly five decades later, those recommendations remain largely unheeded.

Brain Chemistry on a Plate

Understanding why food affects behavior requires a brief detour into neuroscience. Brain cells require proper nutrition to function, and the brain is the body’s most chemically sensitive organ. Food does not merely provide energy. It becomes neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers that govern thought, mood, and action. Brain functioning demands around 20 percent of an adult’s caloric intake. For children, that figure jumps to 30 to 50 percent. A single meal can shift amino acid uptake and alter the production of serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline, chemicals that regulate mood, motivation, and impulse control. Glucose serves as the brain’s sole energy source. When blood sugar drops, the brain struggles. Low glucose levels trigger irritability, nervousness, and aggression. Diets high in sugar create a destructive cycle. Sugary foods cause rapid blood sugar spikes. In response, the body releases excess insulin, causing blood sugar to crash below normal levels. For some children, these crashes manifest as behavioral problems.

Hidden Triggers in Everyday Food

Sugar is not the only culprit. Food allergies and intolerances affect up to 10 percent of the population in Western countries, with the highest rates among young children. Many never receive a proper diagnosis. Consider a young girl named Reegan. As a child, she exhibited severe behavioral problems. Anger issues plagued her. Concentration eluded her. Hyperactivity made school a struggle. She recalls feeling irrationally angry with no explanation. Medical testing and an elimination diet revealed the cause. Reegan had celiac disease. Once she adopted a gluten-free diet, her behavior improved. Anger subsided. Hyperactivity diminished. She could pay attention in class. Reegan’s story is not unusual. A study comparing 100 young offenders with 100 non-offenders found the offender group reported higher rates of stomach aches, lethargy, hyperactivity, and poor concentration, symptoms consistent with food allergies or intolerances. In Shipley, West Yorkshire, researchers evaluated nine children who exhibited persistent antisocial, disruptive, and criminal behavior. All nine were diagnosed with food allergies, mineral deficiencies, or elevated levels of toxic metals. Restrictive diets improved physical and psychological health across the board. Behavior and attitude improved in all participants. A 2007 meta-analysis of five studies confirmed that elimination diets reduced hyperactivity-related symptoms in children. Research has established that hyperactivity, impulsivity, and attention problems serve as serious risk factors for chronic criminal offending in adulthood.

Missing Nutrients, Missing Self-Control

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies present another piece of the puzzle. A 1996 double-blind study in a corrections facility found that vitamin-mineral supplementation reduced violence by 80 percent and nonviolent rule violations by 83 percent. In two Phoenix elementary schools, students receiving vitamin tablets were 47 percent less likely to face disciplinary action than those receiving placebos. Specific nutrients carry particular weight. Zinc deficiency correlates with increased impulsivity. Thiamine deficiency produces irritability, personality changes, and aggressive behavior, especially in adolescents whose diets consist of “junk” food. Iron deficiency affects approximately 10 percent of American males and has been directly associated with aggression in adolescent males. Incarcerated adolescents have twice the iron deficiency rate of their non-incarcerated peers. Long-term studies reinforce these connections. In Mauritius, researchers followed children from age 3 into adolescence. Those who showed protein, iron, and riboflavin deficiencies at age 3 exhibited increased aggression, antisocial behavior, hyperactivity, and attention problems at ages 8, 11, and 17. Poor nutrition at age 3 also predicted lower IQ and weaker school performance at age 11.

Poison in the Food Chain

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Heavy metals add a darker dimension. Lead, manganese, and cadmium enter the body through food, air, water, and soil. Children absorb up to 50 percent of ingested lead, compared to 8 percent in adults. Developing brains face disproportionate harm. Research paints a grim picture. Convicted juvenile offenders are four times more likely to have high lead levels than non-offenders. A Pittsburgh study followed 291 boys from ages 7 to 11. By age 11, those with elevated lead levels displayed more aggression and higher delinquency scores according to both parents and teachers. High levels of lead and other metals correlate with disruptive behavior in school, even after controlling for socioeconomic status, parental IQ, and birthweight. Approximately 3 to 4 million American preschoolers have blood lead levels associated with neurological impairment. An estimated 68 percent of children in poor and minority communities have been exposed to unsafe levels of lead. Yet 35 to 60 percent of children enrolled in Medicaid are never tested for elevated blood lead levels.

When Hunger Shapes Futures

Food insecurity compounds these biological factors. In 2020, 10.8 percent of American households experienced food insecurity. An estimated 16 million children live in food-insecure households. Food deserts, geographic areas lacking grocery stores with fresh produce, force residents to rely on convenience stores and fast food. Approximately 13.5 million Americans have low access to supermarkets. For children in these areas, adequate nutrition remains out of reach. A national study following children born between 1998 and 2000 asked whether food insecurity predicted low self-control and involvement in juvenile delinquency. Researchers found that children who experienced food insecurity exhibited lower levels of self-control and increased delinquent behavior compared to those raised in food-secure households. Direct nutritional effects on developing brains, especially frontal areas related to impulse control, may explain the connection. Racial disparities compound the problem. African American children experience higher rates of lead exposure than white children. African American students are three times as likely to be suspended, four times as likely to be expelled. Food insecurity, environmental toxins, and punitive responses to behavior problems cluster together in marginalized communities.

Gardens Behind Bars

Some facilities have begun experimenting with rehabilitative approaches that put food at the center. Correctional gardens have shown promise in helping detained youth develop prosocial skills. Maricopa County’s Durango Juvenile Detention Facility started a garden program in 2018 with assistance from the University of Arizona. Eight raised beds grow marigolds, broccoli, lettuce, herbs, and sugar snap peas. Teenagers can earn money toward victim restitution or fulfill community service requirements through their work. Blue Ridge Juvenile Corrections Center in Virginia has operated a garden program since 2008. Sixteen raised beds and two greenhouses now support an annual plant sale that contributes proceeds to charitable causes. Staff gift seeds to residents and their families upon release so they can continue gardening in the community. Project Sega in Multnomah County, Oregon, offers gardening opportunities for youth on probation. Produce from the garden sells to local supermarkets. In Missoula, Montana, Garden City Harvest partners with Youth Drug Court to refer young offenders to work in university gardens. Both programs report that participants develop responsibility, ownership, and trust. Research on these initiatives confirms their value. Youth detention gardening programs produce improved academic performance, reduced depression and anxiety, and the development of self-esteem.

Bringing Solutions Home

Two-thirds of children’s food comes from the home, making parental involvement essential for dietary changes. Family-based intervention programs offer a vehicle for incorporating nutritional education. Programs like Family and Schools Together identify at-risk students and engage families in weekly meetings over 8 to 12 weeks. Evaluations show participants achieve higher academic success and decreased externalized behavior. Studies confirm that family-based programs targeting diet adherence can produce lasting behavioral changes in children. Federal legislation already mandates individualized intervention for students with certain disabilities. Individualized Educational Programs address conditions like ADHD. Yet despite overwhelming evidence linking diet to behavior, nutritional evaluation remains absent from most school intervention protocols.

Forty Years of Evidence, Still Waiting

Diet, Crime, and Delinquency was published in 1980. Recommendations for dietary changes in correctional facilities date to 1975. Nearly half a century of research has accumulated. Approximately 700,000 juveniles pass through the American justice system each year. Researchers estimate the total cost of crime in the United States at $2.6 trillion annually. Early intervention for at-risk children could reduce both juvenile delinquency and adult crime while improving the quality of life for vulnerable young people. Reegan, the girl whose celiac disease caused years of behavioral struggles, is now a college senior at Arizona State University. She remains gluten-free. Her story represents what becomes possible when the connection between food and behavior receives proper attention. For the millions of children who never receive a diagnosis, who cycle through disciplinary systems without anyone examining their diet, the question remains. How many futures could change with a simple swap at lunch?

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