Nutritional Deficiencies and Children's Behaviour and Mental Development

Simeon, Donald; Grantham‐McGregor, Sally

doi:10.1079/nrr19900004

Cited by 96 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 90 publications

(97 reference statements)

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“…The data also showed that intestinal helminth infections were significantly related to stunting in both groups of schoolchildren. This result was confirmed by several studies that indicated that undernutrition is one of the most common sequences of infection with A. lumbricodes, T. trichiura and Hookworm (Stephenson, 1994) and is also strongly associated with deficits in mental functioning (Simeon & Grantham-McGregor, 1990). These results also indicated that targeted treatment was warranted and a broad-spectrum benzimidazole (albendazole or mebendazole) will treat at least 60% of children infected with Ascaris and Trichuris.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Anthropometric status, anaemia and intestinal helminthic infections in shantytown and apartment schoolchildren in the Sanliurfa province of Turkey

Ulukanlıgil

Seyrek

2004

Eur J Clin Nutr

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Objective: To study anthropometric status, anaemia and intestinal helminthic infections of schoolchildren living in better and worse socio-economic and environmental conditions in the Sanliurfa province of Turkey. Design: Cross-sectional school-based survey. Setting: The sample was selected using a multistage random cluster sampling technique. The urban area of the province is stratified into two strata on the basis of environmental conditions: shantytowns and apartment areas. A total of 12 schools in the shantytown areas and five schools in the apartment areas were randomly selected based on probability proportional size in the two strata. A third class (including 9-10 y-old children) was randomly selected in each school and all children in this class were selected for the survey. Subjects: A total of 806 children, 572 of them from shantytown schools and 234 from apartment schools, took part in the surveys. Height for age, weight for age and weight for height were calculated by New Anthro software using the NCHS/WHO international reference values. The haemoglobin concentration was measured by the cyanmethaemoglobin method. Stool samples were examined by the semiquantative Kato-Katz technique. Results: Evidence of chronic ill health was common due to undernutrition, anaemia and helminthic infections in shantytown schools. Both male and female children in shantytown schools had higher stunting rates than those of apartment schools. Underweight was significantly associated with the sex of the children in shantytown schools in that the boys had a significantly higher underweight rate than girls (P: 0.04), but this rate did not differ between sexes in apartment schools. Wasting was significantly associated with the type of settlements; the girls in apartment schools had a significantly higher wasting rate than those of shantytown schools (P: 0.02). The children in shantytown schools had significantly higher anaemia rates (45%) than those of apartment schools (15%) (P: 0.01). The prevalence of intestinal helminthic infections was significantly higher in shantytown schools (63%) than apartment schools (37%) (Po0.0001). Ascaris lumbricoides was the most prevalent helminth and followed by Trichuris trichiura, Hymenolepis nana and Taenia species in both the study areas. Infection in children was significantly related to stunting in shantytown schools (multiple R ¼ 0.147; P: 0.005) and in apartment schools (multiple R ¼ 0.171; P: 0.02). Conclusion: These results indicated that the prevalence of stunting, anaemia and intestinal helminth infections constitutes an important public health problem among shantytown schoolchildren. School health programmes including deworming, feeding and micronutrient iron supplements through health education have a potentially beneficial effect on the health and education of schoolchildren.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Anthropometric status, anaemia and intestinal helminthic infections in shantytown and apartment schoolchildren in the Sanliurfa province of Turkey

Ulukanlıgil

Seyrek

2004

Eur J Clin Nutr

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“…Similarly, the effect of short-term food deprivation on cognition is worse in undernourished children than in adequately-nourished children (Simeon & Grantham McGregor, 1990).…”

Section: Factors Influencing the Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritional deficiencies and later behavioural development

2000

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The literature on the long-term effects of nutritional deficiencies in early life is reviewed. The severity and duration of the deficiency, the stage of the children’s development, the biological condition of the children and the socio-cultural context may all modify the effect. There is substantial evidence that reduced breast-feeding, small-for-gestational-age birth weight, Fe and I deficiency, and protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) are associated with long-term deficits in cognition and school achievement. However, all these conditions are associated with poverty and poor health, which may account for the association. It is difficult to establish that the long-term relationship is causal, as it requires a randomized treatment trial with long-term follow-up. Such studies are only available for I deficiency in utero and early childhood PEM. Results from these studies indicate that I deficiency has a long-term effect and PEM probably has a long-term effect.

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“…For example, iron deficiency anemia has a particularly strong link with impaired cognitive functioning in primary schoolchildren [13][14][15][16] and is a common component of the clinical picture of hookworm disease, 17 S. japonicum infection, 18 and intense trichuriasis. 19 Low height-for-age (stunting) has been associated with poorer performance in tests of cognitive function, 20 mental development, 21 behavior, 22 and educational achievement, 23 and is also a feature of intense trichuriasis, 19 ascariasis, 24 and S. japonicum infection.…”

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confidence: 99%

Evidence for an improvement in cognitive function following treatment of Schistosoma japonicum infection in Chinese primary schoolchildren.

Nokes

McGarvey²,

Shiue³

et al. 1999

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Abstract. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, treatment trial was conducted in Sichuan, China to investigate the unique and combined effects on the cognitive function (working memory) of children after treating geohelminth infections with albendazole and treating Schistosoma japonicum infection with praziquantel. One hundred eighty-one children 5-16 years of age participated. At baseline, the praziquantel and placebo groups were similar in all background characteristics. Three months after praziquantel treatment, there was a significant reduction in the prevalence and intensity of S. japonicum infection. There were significant age group by praziquantel treatment interaction effects in three of the five cognitive tests, Fluency, Picture Search, and Free Recall, with effects being strongest in the youngest children (5-7 years old). Exploratory analysis within the youngest children showed a significant positive main effect of treatment on Fluency (P Ͻ 0.001), after controlling for sex, anthropometric, and parasitic and iron status. There was also a treatment by height-for-age interaction (P ϭ 0.03) and a treatment by iron status interaction (P ϭ 0.024) on Fluency. There was a treatment by S. japonicum intensity interaction (P Ͻ 0.001) on Free Recall, but the main effect of treatment on Picture Search was not significant (P ϭ 0.058). Younger children and those who are physically the most vulnerable are likely to benefit the most from the treatment of S. japonicum infection in terms of improved performance on tests of working memory.Several studies have shown that moderate to heavy parasitic helminth infections of children are associated with lower scores on tests of cognitive function and of educational achievement than children who are uninfected or lightly infected.1-7 The specific effects on mental function are not clear and may depend not only on the duration and intensity of infection but also on the species of parasitic infection and whether or not the parasites are present as single or multiple species infections.The specific cognitive domains that are associated with parasitic infection have not been clearly defined but could be important for understanding the implications of the effects on children's educational achievement and development. For example, it was observed that performance on tests of reaction time was associated with Ascaris lumbricoides infection (Watkins WE, Pollitt E, unpublished data), whereas Levav and others 8 found that infection with A. lumbricoides was associated with poorer performance on tests of verbal ability.One cognitive domain that has been investigated in several studies with differing results is that of working memory. Working memory refers to a brain system that provides temporary storage and manipulation of the information necessary for more complex cognitive tasks such as language comprehension, learning, and reasoning. 9 The working memory model is composed of three main parts: an attentional controller/central executive supplemented by two subsidiary systems called the p...

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Nutritional Deficiencies and Children's Behaviour and Mental Development

Cited by 96 publications

References 90 publications

Anthropometric status, anaemia and intestinal helminthic infections in shantytown and apartment schoolchildren in the Sanliurfa province of Turkey

Anthropometric status, anaemia and intestinal helminthic infections in shantytown and apartment schoolchildren in the Sanliurfa province of Turkey

Nutritional deficiencies and later behavioural development

Evidence for an improvement in cognitive function following treatment of Schistosoma japonicum infection in Chinese primary schoolchildren.

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