Want to curb juvenile delinquency and prevent incarceration? Try fruits and vegetables.

Too often efforts to keep kids in school and out of jail fail to consider the link between nutrition and behavior. Programs designed to prevent juvenile delinquency, or rehabilitate offenders, tend to focus correcting problem behaviors and pay little attention to what kids are eating.

Several studies have found that poor nutrition in childhood can lead to the externalization of aggressive, antisocial, and hyperactive behaviors in adolescence.

Children in food insecure homes likely live in communities with high levels of policing and arrests, where they might witness substance abuse and violence, and attend poorly performing schools. All of these factors place youth at risk for incarceration, and yet the nutrition piece is rarely discussed.

To read more of Gabrielle Tilley's article,  please click here.