Written question asked by Baroness Greenfield (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Scotland of Asthal (Labour) on Monday, 6 March 2006.

Young Offenders: Diet

Question: Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 9 February (WA 124), what criteria were used to determine that the numbers involved in the study of nutritional supplements at HM Young Offender Institution, Aylesbury, were too small to enable wider conclusions to be drawn.

Answer: The bases for the advice that wider conclusions could not be drawn from the study of nutritional supplements at HMYOI Aylesbury were that:The research took place in one prison; it is therefore not possible to demonstrate that findings from this study can be generalised to other environments.The study used adjudications in prison as the outcome measure; therefore it is not possible to demonstrate that the findings from this study can be generalised to other behaviours.The results, for a sample of 172 young adult prisoners, was a reduction in adjudications of 35 per cent. for those taking the active supplements. Statistically, however, this produces a wide range of possible reductions—from 16 per cent. to 54 per cent. A larger sample size would allow us to be more precise about the impact of the supplements.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 4255; 679 c118WA
Session: 2005-06
Related items: Young Offenders: Diet
Thursday, 9 February 2006
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects: Diets Dietary supplements Minerals Young offenders Research Vitamins HMP/YOI Aylesbury
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk