Nutritional status and social behavior in preschool children: the mediating effects of neurocognitive functioning

Abstract

Early malnutritional status has been associated with reduced cognitive ability in childhood. However, there are almost no studies on the effect of malnutrition on positive social behavior, and no tests of possible mediating mechanisms. This study tests the hypothesis that poor nutritional status is associated with impaired social functioning in childhood, and that neurocognitive ability mediates this relationship. We assessed 1553 male and female 3-year-olds from a birth cohort on measures of malnutrition, social behavior and verbal and spatial neurocognitive functions. Children with indicators of malnutrition showed impaired social behavior (p <.0001) as compared with children in the control group with adequate nutritional status. These associations even persisted after controlling for social adversity and parental education. Findings were not moderated by gender or ethnicity, and there was no interaction effect with parental education. A dose–response relationship was observed between degree of malnutrition and degree of social behavior, with increased malnutrition associated with more impaired social behavior. Neurocognitive ability was found to mediate the nutrition–social behavior relationship. The mediation effect of neurocognitive functioning suggests that poor nutrition negatively impacts brain areas that play important roles in developing positive social behavior. Findings suggest that reducing poor nutrition, alternatively promoting good nutrition, may help promote positive social behavior in early childhood during a critical period for social and neurocognitive development, with implications for improving positive health in adulthood.

Nutrition, Cognition, and Social Emotion among Preschoolers in Poor, Rural Areas of South Central China: Status and Correlates

“…First, consistent with previous findings [ 8 , 38 , 39 ], we found that anemic children were more likely to suffer suboptimal cognition development than non-anemic peers. However, unlike previous studies [ 40 , 41 ], our findings did not support associations of anemia with socio-emotional status. The lack of such associations is partly because our findings were obtained after controlling for a wide range of socio-demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, suggesting that these characteristics may have a greater effect on child socio-emotional outcomes.…”

The role of nutrition in integrated early child development in the 21st century: contribution from the Maternal and Child Nutrition journal

“…Although these studies add to the increasing body of knowledge indicating that poor nutritional status during early childhood and beyond has a negative impact on cognitive development, few have investigated the association between nutritional status and social behaviors and what the potential mediators may be. Liu and Raine () found in a large sample of 3‐year‐old children living in Mauritius that malnourished children had impaired social functioning, which exhibited a dose–response relationship whereby increased malnutrition was associated with more impaired social behavior. Neurocognitive ability was found to mediate the nutrition–social behavior relationship.…”

Dietary Intakes, Patterns, and Determinants of Children Under 5 Years from Marginalized Communities in Odisha: A Cross-sectional Study

“…Although lying outside the framework of 1000 days, the pre-school age (3–5 years) is equally vulnerable to malnutrition and eating problems, which lead to reduced physical, cognitive, and social development [ 5 – 7 ]. Nearly 43% of the children aged 3–5 are underweight in some of the worst-performing districts of India [ 8 ].…”