Emerging research suggests good nutritional intake
during childhood has a positive effective on early childhood development. The
study was led by two University of Pennsylvania researchers: Jianghong Liu, an
associate professor in Penn’s School of Nursing and Perelman School of
Medicine, and Adrian Raine, the Richard Perry University Professor of
Criminology, Psychiatry, and Psychology.
Their study provides a unique perspective on a
field that often focuses on how poor diet negatively influences early childhood
development. The study results appear in the journal Maternal & Child
Nutrition.“What people are not doing
is looking at positive effects of good nutrition, in particular on social
behavior,” said Raine.
“We link nutrition to physical health but also
social health and positive social behavior.” Liu said it’s a gap in the
research she hopes this work might bridge. “No one has looked at positive
social behavior,” she said. “Childhood social behavior, even adult social
behavior, has a lot of implications for physical and mental health and
well-being.”
For this study, the scientists analyzed a sample of
1,795 3-year-old children from Mauritius, an island off the eastern coast of
Africa with a population of about 1.3 million people. They focused on four
aspects of physical health related to nutrition and four indicators of social
development.
Physical health factors are medical issues that can
include anemia, expressed by low hemoglobin levels that reflect iron
deficiency. Another condition is angular stomatitis revealed by cracked lips
and a lack of vitamin B2 and niacin. And a third is sparse hair or hair
discoloration as a result of insufficient protein intake. On Mauritius, where
the majority of children have black hair, the fourth factor shows up as an
orange or red tint to the hair.
The researchers considered a child with just one of
the quartet as “suffering from nutritional deficits.” However, children with
more malnutrition indicators showed more impaired social behavior. Social
interactions studied included friendliness, extent of verbalization, active
social play, and exploratory behavior.
To assess a child’s abilities, a research assistant
observed every child’s success and rated these factors on a specified scale. The
observer knew that the research concentrated on child development and behavior
but was unaware of the nutrition-related hypothesis.
Examining the relationship between these components
after the fact, Liu and Raine discovered a statistically significant link
between nutrition and comprehensive social behavior. The neurocognitive
relations was undiscovered to this point.
“The bigger message is give children good
nutrition early on,” Liu said. “Not only will it enhance cognitive function
but, importantly, promote good social behavior,” which is essential to brain
development and intelligence.
“In the same study,” Raine said, “we’ve shown that
children with positive social behavior, eight years later, they have higher
IQs.”
Despite the diversity of Mauritius, which has
Indian, Creole and, to a smaller extent, Chinese, French and English
populations, the researchers acknowledge a desire to replicate their findings
in large cities in the United States. Another limitation is the study’s
cross-sectional nature, meaning measurements occurred all at once rather than
over a long period of time. Ideally, Raine said, “you want a randomized control
trial. You want to manipulate nutrition to see whether you can get improvements
in social behavior and cognitive function.”
It’s possible to reverse the effects of poor
nutrition, too, according to the researchers. “It’s never too late to provide
good nutrients,” Liu said.“And it’s never too early,” Raine added.
Article
by Rick Nauert PhD, University of Pennsylvania
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