The Impact of Nutrition on Early Cognitive Development

        Malnutrition continues to be a common cause of death in America due to food insecurity and poverty. The trends in malnutrition have especially increased after the discontinuation of assistance measures offered during the pandemic, and the rates of poverty and food insecurity continue to be higher for marginalized and minority populations. Accordingly, people affected by these factors often develop a dependence on fast food and processed foods, leading to poor nutrition. Malnutrition, moreover, also plays a role in the cognitive development of young children. As the human brain develops, it requires various nutrients to support its structure and foster cognitive skills. Consequently, studies like the ones reported in Dr. Marina Roberts’ review paper have reported that children with poor nutrition frequently exhibit impaired cognitive skills.

        In Dr. Bell’s talk, she discussed that although there are patterns in behaviors and physiology, the patterns in cognition, emotion, and attention are complex in the context of development. In her research paper titled “Relations between frontal EEG maturation and inhibitory control in preschool in the prediction of children’s early academic skills,” she investigates changes in frontal alpha power from ten months old to four years old to track participants’ prefrontal cortex maturation as a baseline. These measurements, then, allowed her to predict inhibitory control abilities at age four and cognitive skills at age six. As defined by Dr. Bell, inhibitory control is a child’s ability to regulate or stop inappropriate behavior, likely through suppression. Children’s inhibitory control was estimated as a latent factor rather than being directly observed, and the study found that higher overall alpha power levels correlated to greater inhibitory control abilities. Then, children’s academic skills were measured through the Woodcock-Johnson math and reading performance scores. Overall, Dr. Bell’s research produced data that supported a positive correlation between prefrontal cortex maturation, inhibitory control, and academic performance.

        Dr. Bell also discussed that environmental factors, like caregiving, could have led to variation in preschoolers’ inhibitory control results, which related to their cognitive abilities. Within caregiving, nutrition levels in children’s meals are another predictor for academic performance, as discussed by Dr. Roberts in her paper, “The Effects of Nutritional Interventions on the Cognitive Development of Preschool-Age Children: A Systematic Review”. The twelve studies Dr. Roberts reviewed had samples mostly with children in preschool, including children at risk for and with insufficient nutrient levels. There was a wide range of possible nutritional supplements, from single nutrient supplementation through guava, iron, vitamin B, or iodized salt to multiple micronutrient supplementation added to porridge, rice, or even a raw paste to consumption of fatty fish to fortification of milk powder. After nutritional intervention, the studies used various standardized cognitive tests, like verbal reasoning, information processing speed, working memory, motor skills, and symbol search, to measure children's cognitive performance. Only the findings of some studies supported that nutritional supplements in young, malnourished children positively affected their cognitive development. Specifically, children who received micronutrient supplementation or consumed fish showed improvements in certain cognitive abilities, such as working memory, vocabulary, and symbol search, compared to children who received no nutritional intervention. Furthermore, multiple micronutrient supplementation improved children’s cognitive, social, and emotional skills, especially for children in low-quality preschools who showed improvements in inhibitory control as well.

        Dr. Bell and Dr. Roberts demonstrate how both prefrontal cortex maturation and nutrition can serve as indicators for early cognitive development and academic performance, respectively. From these results, it is essential to encourage adequate nutrient intake in preschool-age children as it can positively impact cognitive performance. Additionally, Dr. Bell found that alpha power values increased until age three, and Dr. Roberts mentions the necessity of sufficient nutrition during the first one thousand days of life for optimal cognitive growth, further emphasizing the first three years as a crucial period for brain development. Therefore, possible solutions to improve cognitive development in marginalized or minority populations include strengthening government-funded programs and social support systems to increase food security. Additionally, there should be medical care focused on detecting malnutrition in younger children to provide them with treatment in the hope of ensuring all children have an equal opportunity to break the perpetual cycle of intergenerational poverty through more developed cognitive abilities.

References

Roberts, M., Tolar-Peterson, T., Reynolds, A., Wall, C., Reeder, N., & Rico Mendez, G. (2022). The Effects of Nutritional Interventions on the Cognitive Development of Preschool-Age Children: A Systematic Review. Nutrients, 14, 532. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14030532

Whedon, M., Perry, N. B., & Bell, M. A. (2020). Relations between frontal EEG maturation and inhibitory control in preschool in the prediction of children’s early academic skills. Brain and Cognition, 146, 105636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2020.105636