Abstract
Adequate nutrition is important for neurodevelopment. Although nutrients are ingested in combination, the impact of specific nutrients within the context of a nutrient mixture has not been studied with respect to health, such as neurodevelopment. Therefore, we examined the impact of prenatal and childhood nutrient mixtures on neurodevelopmental outcomes. Participants included mother–child pairs in the Programming Research in Obesity, Growth, Environment, and Social Stress (PROGRESS) prospective birth cohort in Mexico City. We assessed prenatal and child micro- and macronutrient profiles among 65 and 329 children, respectively, via food frequency questionnaires. Neurodevelopmental outcomes of 4–6 year-old children were measured using the McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities (MSCA). We conducted weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression analyses to calculate indices reflecting “good” and “poor” prenatal and childhood nutrition. After adjusting for maternal education, socioeconomic status, the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) score, and total caloric intake, the good prenatal and childhood nutrition indices predicted more favorable neurodevelopment, while both poor nutrition indices predicted poorer neurodevelopment. These associations were stronger in prenatal than childhood models. Monounsaturated fats predicted various neurodevelopmental abilities relatively strongly in both models. Prenatal and childhood consumption of combinations of beneficial nutrients may contribute to more favorable neurodevelopment.
Highlights
A large body of research supports links between nutrition and neurodevelopment [1,2,3,4,5,6]
This is the first study to examine the relationship between maternal and nutrients. This is the first study to examine the relationship between maternal and. This is the first study to examine the relationship between maternal and child child nutrient mixtures and a well-known health effect sensitive to nutrition: child child nutrient mixtures and a well-known health effect sensitive to nutrition: child nutrient mixtures and a well-known health effect sensitive to nutrition: child neurodevelopment
We found that more nutritious prenatal or childhood diets predicted more favorable neurodevelopment
Summary
A large body of research supports links between nutrition and neurodevelopment [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Humans generally ingest nutrients in combination, the majority of studies on nutrition and neurodevelopment have either examined single nutrients or nutrient ratios [1,3,4,9]. This approach assumes that each nutrient acts independently, but there may be interactions that explain much more of the variance. We propose that research on the joint effect of nutrient mixtures on health is needed. We focus on neurodevelopmental health and early-life nutrition
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