foodconsumer.org: Early life nutrition enhances intellectual capability in adulthood

Early life nutrition enhances intellectual capability in adulthood
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admin on 07/07/2008 19:58:00
 
MONDAY July 7, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- Children eating a diet rich in protein
and other nutrients between birth and 24 months increase their intellectual
capacity, a study has found.
The results, published in the July issue of the Archives of Pediatrics &
Adolescent Medicine, showed that those who ate a nutrient rich diet between
birth and 2 years had an intellectual gain that was equal to 0.5 years of
schooling. In girls, the gain could be as much as 1.2 years.
"Schooling is a key component of the development of literacy, reading
comprehension and cognitive functioning, and thus of human capital," the authors
wrote as background information in the article.
"Both nutrition and early-childhood intellectual enrichment are likely to be
important determinants of intellectual functioning in adulthood."
For the trial, researchers followed children in four villages in Guatemala
between 1969 and 1977, with some children exposed to atole (a protein-rich
enhanced nutritional supplement) and others exposed to fresco, a sugar-sweetened
beverage.
Aryeh D. Stein, M.P.H., Ph.D., of Emory University, Atlanta, and colleagues
analyzed data from intellectual testing and interviews conducted between 2002
and 2004 when 1,448 surviving participants were an average of 32 years old.
Those who were exposed to atole between birth and age 24 months scored a bit
higher on intellectual tests of reading comprehension and cognitive functioning
in adulthood than those not exposed to atole during such a period.
The association held true after other factors associated with intellectual
functioning such as years of schooling were considered.
"Nutrition in early life is associated with markers of child development in this
population, and exposure to atole for most of the first three years of life was
associated with an increase of 0.4 years in attained schooling, with the
association being stronger for females (1.2 years of schooling)," the authors
wrote.
"Thus, schooling might be in the causal pathway between early childhood
nutrition and adult intellectual functioning."
The researchers concluded "Our data, which suggest an effect of exposure to an
enhanced nutritional intervention in early life that is independent of any
effect of schooling, provide additional evidence in support of intervention
strategies that link early investments in children to continued investments in
early-life nutrition and in schooling."
The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and
from the National Science Foundation.
By Ben Wasserman, and edited by Heather Kelley.
Jul 7, 2008 - 3:55:53 PM