In "Idiocracy," a 2006 movie starring Luke Wilson, Corporal Joe Bauers is enrolled in a top-secret military hibernation program, but is forgotten. When he awakens 500 years later, he discovers that people have become so idiotic that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.

Well, it turns out that it doesn't take 500 years to see evidence of dumbing down. You can do it within your child's lifetime, by dishing up sweet, sugary foods and drinks to the young ones, and not helping teens eat more healthfully.

A new study out of Australia found that long-term overeating of sugary foods alters the brain's ability to remember events and situations, contributing to attention deficit disorders.

It also prevents needed growth of new neurons that fuel cognition.

The result, suggest the researchers, is an adult who is hyperactive and cognitively impaired.

The study published in the journal Frontiers of Neuroscience was conducted on mice — but there's no reason to think that the results don't reflect an all-too-real danger to your kids.

The researchers even go so far as to say that the results show overconsumption of sucrose starting in childhood has the same negative impact on the nervous system, emotions, and cognition throughout adulthood as addictive drugs. 

Fortunately, they also found that the damage is reversible.

If you start today to delete all sugar-added foods from your kids' diet, you can prevent obesity and stop blocking your child's ability to think, remember, and process information.