"In a correlational study lower average regional intelligence was found to be linked with higher infectious disease rates. Perhaps because the metabolic demands of the brain are great and resources are diverted to fight disease. Karen Hopkin reports."Scientific American, July 1, 2010
The article website also provides a podcast and link to the original scientific report.
Comment: Correlation does not mean causality. While it seems reasonable that kids who get sick often may not develop their intelligence as much as do healthier kids, there are other possible relations. It could be, unpleasant as it is to contemplate, that less intelligent families are less able to protect themselves from disease. It may be that there is some underlying factor for both ill health and poor performance on intelligence tests; both might be symptoms of poverty. Indeed, there might be complex viscous cycles among ill health, intellectual ability and poverty.
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