Children & Women Early life nutrition enhances intellectual capability in adulthood
By Ben Wasserman
Jul 7, 2008 - 3:55:53 PM
MONDAY July 7, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- Children eating a
diet rich in protein and other nutrients between birth and 24 months increases
their intellectual capacity, a study has found.
The results published in the July issue or 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 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 was 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.