Environmental deprivation: Its effect on the growth of infant monkeys

Abstract

The nutritional intake of children with "deprivation dwarfism" has usually been reported to be normal, and in the absence of other etiologic explanations, their growth failure has been attributed to lack of environmental stimulation. Infant rhesus monkeys reared under conditions of total social isolation developed gross behavioral abnormalities, but grew at normal rates when fed an ad libitum diet. On the basis of these observations, inadequate nutrition would appear to be the most plausible explanation for the growth failure which may occur in children who are reared in deprived environments.