A Year 8 pupil at St Benedict’s School in Ealing, has won a special highly commended award in the Henry Kitchener Prize essay writing competition. Emilia McFadzean was the youngest winner in the country and, along with her certificate, received a prize of £100 at an Award Ceremony in Central London.
The Henry Kitchener Prize was launched in 2014 in memory of Henry 3rd Earl Kitchener to encourage exploration into how scientific research in nutrition and neuroscience might help solve practical problems. The competition for students under 18 years of age was organised by the Institute for Food, Brain and Behaviour (IFBB)- a national charity that makes evidence-based policy recommendations in the area of neuroscience and nutrition.
Henry Kitchener was a physicist who was closely associated with the IFBB for over 20 years. His niece, Lady Emma Fellowes, presented the award along with acclaimed film and TV screenwriter Lord Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey.
The topic for the competition was ‘How does what we eat affect our brains?’ Emilia thought this was an interesting issue, so she decided to give it a go. “I really enjoyed researching the topic, as I didn’t know that much about it before. When writing my essay, I used fictional characters from my family to illustrate the effects of different foods on our brain. I tried to make it a little humorous as well as scientific, and I think the judges liked this,” said Emilia.
For more information about the prize and IFBB, visit: www.ifbb.org.uk/henry-kitchener-prize
