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Nutrition, Behavior, and the Criminal Justice System: What Took so Long? An Interview with Dr. Stephen J. Schoenthaler
In a series of insightful discussions, Alan C. Logan, a member of the Challenges Advisory Board and a fellow at the Nova Institute for Health, engages with various experts concerned with health on individual, community, and global levels. During these conversations, Dr. Stephen J. Schoenthaler, a prominent figure from California State University, Stanislaus, shares his extensive forty-year research experience on the nexus between nutrition, behavior, and mental health. Dr. Schoenthaler’s work notably explores how dietary habits and nutritional interventions can influence behaviors linked to criminality and aggression. Despite the initial recognition of nutrition’s role in juvenile delinquency during the 1950s, scientific exploration in this area remained sparse. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the notion of diet affecting behavior captured the US’s national spotlight, though it was often dismissed by those affiliated with the ultra-processed food sector. Nowadays, this topic forms a significant part of nutritional psychiatry, a field that underscores the profound societal effects of diet, including implications for the criminal justice system. Dr. Schoenthaler provides an update on the progress within this field, reflecting on early inspirations and the potential future of research, especially concerning criminal justice and broader societal challenges.
Year: 2023
