Stuttering is a prevalent speech disorder that affects many peoplek. It is associated with difficulty in saying something. The occurrence of this condition is attributed to many factors ranging from genetic to dietary. Although little attention has been paid on the contribution of diet to the occurrence of stuttering, few studies note that some compounds in food affect the severity of stuttering in individuals who stutter. In their study, Hum, Rietveld, Wiedijk, and Lieshout indicate that copper and thiamine present in some foods facilitate the advancement of stuttering. According to them, excessive amount of copper increases motor activity that is responsible for stuttering. They continue to note that thiamine regulates the activity of copper, hence important in managing stuttering[i]. Similarly, Strom and Silverberg assert that food allergy contribute to the occurrence of speech disorders in children. They site allergic inflammation as the mode through which these foods increase the risk of speech disorders[ii].
Although they identified copper, thiamine, and food allergies as examples of diets that affect stuttering, the researchers of the two articles failed to explain the extent to which these elements affect stuttering. This influenced the choice of my research question: do the risks of stuttering vary based on the type of diets? What are the factors that influence the variation in risk if it exists? If food allergens influence the occurrence of stuttering, what are some of the foods rich in these allergens?
Section II: Thoughtful Reflection
Answers to the above research questions can contribute to the understanding of the relationship between diet and stuttering. These answers, however, can be acquired through conduction of extensive research on different databases. I will be required to search through Google for good databases for my research topic. The databases must be authentic with academic sources. The information that I will be searching for can be provided in articles that talk about the risk factors for stuttering. Since my research is interested in evaluating the impact of different diets on the occurrence of speech disorder, I will draft a list of diets believed to influence the occurrence of this order and evaluate the magnitude of their respective impact. Likewise, I will conduct a survey through the help of a questionnaire that will evaluate different people’s views about types of foods that increase the risk of speech disorder. Although use of questionnaires in collecting information is subject to biasness, I believe the collected results will help me make a conclusion about the association of diet with stuttering.
Some of the results that I expect include the claim that the severity of speech disorder varies with types of diet. That is, certain foods make an individual to experience increased repetition of words whereas others influence brief repetitions. I also expect some food chemicals such as additives to be associated with the occurrence of stammering. Equally, I expect some people to provide sugar and dairy foods as the risk factors for stuttering. Based on the importance of my research topic, I will interview individuals who stammer since they are the ones who can provide reliable information about the foods that affect their condition. Likewise, I will include parents to children who stammer as my research subjects since they understand the environmental factors that expose their children to stuttering.
I chose the specific topic because I come from a community with some people that stammer. Assessing the identified individuals for my study will be easy since I will employ my knowledge and communication skills that I have learned in college in conducting friendly interviews.
Bibliography
Hum, Jean. “A pilot study into a possible relationship between diet and stuttering.” Journal of Fluency Disorders, 52. 2017.
Strom, Mark and Silverberg, Jonathan. “Asthma, hay fever, and food allergy are associated with caregiver-reported speech disorders in US children.” Pediatr Allergy Immunol, 27(6): 604–611. 2016.
Notes
[i]
Jean Hum. “A pilot study into a possible relationship between diet and stuttering.”
[ii]
Mark Strom and Jonathan Silverberg. “Asthma, hay fever, and food allergy are associated with caregiver-reported speech disorders in US children.”
