Abstract
The developing human brain requires all essential nutrients to form and to maintain its structure. Infant and child cognitive development is dependent on adequate nutrition. Children who do not receive sufficient nutrition are at high risk of exhibiting impaired cognitive skills. This systematic review aimed to examine the effects of nutritional interventions on cognitive outcomes of preschool-age children. PubMed, PsycInfo, Academic Search Complete, and Cochrane Library electronic databases were searched to identify Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) published after the year 2000. Studies assessing the effects of food-based, single, and multiple micronutrient interventions on the cognition of nourished and undernourished children aged 2–6 years were deemed eligible. A total of 12 trials were identified. Eight out of the twelve studies found significant positive effects on cognitive outcomes. Iron and multiple-micronutrients supplementation yield improvements in the cognitive abilities of undernourished preschool-age children. Increased fish consumption was found to have a beneficial effect in the cognitive outcomes of nourished children. On the other hand, B-vitamin, iodized salt, and guava powder interventions failed to display significant results. Findings of this review highlight the importance of adequate nutrition during preschool years, and the crucial role sufficient nutrition plays in cognitive development.
Highlights
Undernutrition is caused by an inadequate intake of energy, protein, or vitamins and minerals [2], and is a present-day global problem hindering the development of young children [4,5,6,7,8,9]
This systematic review identified 12 Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) that met the inclusion criteria, of which three articles were identified through a backward search of the reference list of included publications
This review suggests nutritional interventions significantly improve cognitive outcomes of undernourished preschool-age children
Summary
Undernutrition is caused by an inadequate intake of energy, protein, or vitamins and minerals [2], and is a present-day global problem hindering the development of young children [4,5,6,7,8,9]. Undernutrition can cause emaciation, stunting, and wasting, or various micronutrient deficiencies [1,2,3,4]. Inadequate protein and energy intake in childhood is directly associated with reduced growth, and is indicative of several psychosocial problems later in life [3,10]. Pediatric undernutrition is characterized by a lack of adequate weight gain, low weight per height, or low weight per length, and is a direct contributor to impaired cognitive skills [11,12,13]
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