Can a Healthy Diet Influence the Behaviour of People Whilst in Prison?

1. THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL ASSIGNMENT

1.1. Topic:

Diet and behaviour.

1.2. Research question:

Can a healthy diet influence the behaviour of people whilst in prison?

1.3. Background:

The concept that nutrition can affect behaviour is not new. The food people eat can have strong effects on their behaviour. A healthy diet is believed to affect not only health and disease, but also mental health, intelligence and temperament. In the last decade there was an explosion of interest in healthy food and the effect on the human body and brain. So why not use this explosion of information about food to improve the behaviour and mental health of prisoners through a healthy diet?

Like any other part of the body, the human brain also needs adequate nourishment to function normally. Our brain needs around 20% of the available energy in our body to function,

but to use this energy, it needs a range of essential nutrients.

If we don’t obtain enough of these nutrients from our diet, the regulation of our brains' neurotransmitters are potentially affected. This can influence the choices we make and, most important, the way we behave.

1.4. Introduction:

It would be naïve to think that criminal behaviour is only induced by eating and drinking junk but what if the behaviour can be adjusted/improved by eating healthy and getting the nutrients our brain needs to be regulated? It would be frustrating not to know if the offenders would behave differently or not due to a healthy diet.

This research will help to understand the effect that food can have on the behaviour of prisoners.

This research will only focus on the effects that healthy food can have on their behaviour whilst in prison.

If reinstating healthier diets produces better results with prisoners, then it’s worth investing in nutrition as this may ultimately mean less violence and less victims. You can only love others if you love yourself. Loving yourself starts with a good health.

1.5. Research objectives:

The primary objective of the research is to identify if prisoners’ behaviour (temperament, mental health, behaviour…) is affected by a healthy diet.

The secondary objective is to create evidence that the way criminals behave in and out of prison can be changed/adjusted by improving their basic needs like a healthy diet. Evidence is needed to convince the justice system to invest in healthy food in prisons.

1.6. Hypotheses:

Healthy food improves the behaviour of prisoners because the human brain