We know fast food makes kids fat. Apparently, it can also make them dumb.

A recent study showed that kids living on a heavy diet of fast food, three or more times a week, have been found to produce lower test scores than their non-fast-food-eating classmates.

The study was conducted by Dr. Kelly Purtell of Ohio State University.

Data was used from a national representative sample that included 8,500 school kids from the United States. Their fast food diet was measured at the age of 10.

The kids were asked how often they ate fast food in a week from chains like McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut. The data ranged from those who had fast food one to three times in a week, four to six times and every day. An academic test showed that those who never ate fast food scored a total of 83 points, while those who ate it every day averaged 79.

Two possible explanations as to why a decline in academia could be caused by that Crunchwrap Supreme are offered.

The first says that the lower presence of iron in fast foods can be blamed for decelerating development of certain processes in the brain. The second is that diets high in fat and sugar can have a negative impact on learning.

Either way, kids, time to put down that McDouble and pick up a McBook.

h/t Daily Mail