Malnutrition at Age 3 Years and Lower Cognitive Ability at Age 11 Years

Abstract

Malnutrition at age 3 years is associated with poor cognition at age 11 years independent of psychosocial adversity. Promoting early childhood nutrition could enhance long-term cognitive development and school performance, especially in children with multiple nutritional deficits.

The impact of malnutrition on intelligence at 3 and 11 years of age: The mediating role of temperament.

“…What however remains as a striking finding is that malnutrition measured at age 3 has a graded and lasting effect 8 years later at age 11; it is not only extreme levels of malnutrition that are associated with impaired cognitive behavior but even mild levels have some association. These findings support but elaborate further the findings from the same database of a direct association between malnutrition and age 11 IQ (Liu et al, 2003), albeit where in that instance malnutrition was measured by a different set of categorical, clinically observed variables including angular stomatitis, kwashiorkor, sparse hair and anemia, this last measured categorically in this instance…”

Nutritional status and social behavior in preschool children: the mediating effects of neurocognitive functioning

“…These nutritional markers were consistent with those used in previously published studies of this cohort in which further details on assessment are also provided (Liu et al ; Raine et al ; Liu et al ; Liu et al ; Raine et al ). Assessments were conducted using a structured protocol by local pediatricians, physicians and nutritionists who had received their medical training in the UK, USSR and India.…”

Associations between early childhood poverty and cognitive functioning throughout childhood and adolescence: A 14-year prospective longitudinal analysis of the Mauritius Child Health Project

“…The size of the associations between parental characteristics and cognitive functioning thereby was relatively similar to those reported in the TEDS [1]. Our findings on the pivotal role of stunting also extend previous analyses of the MCHP, which found that children who showed multiple signs of malnutrition in toddlerhood also showed deceased IQ levels, reading ability, and school performance at age 11 years, independent of the level of psychosocial risks encountered in early childhood [49]. While the global prevalence of stunting has been declining over the last two decades, in 2020, stunting was still affecting more than one in five children under 5 years worldwide and about one in three children under 5 years in Africa and Southern Asia [15], with boys being at particular risk of being undernourished [50].…”