MPsy605- Applied Child and Adolescent Development

NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCY’S EFFECTS

ON BRAIN DEVELOPMENTAND BEHAVIOR

I. Nutrition and Brain Development

A. Neurodevelopmental Processes

1. Neuron proliferation
 It is the creation of new cells through cell division.
 This begins in week 7 of gestation and continues to at least 4.5 months
postpartum.
 This process is completed at birth, but neurons can be created in adult.

2. Axon and dendrite growth

 They are branching projections that grow out from cell bodies to make
connections with other cells.
 This process begins during gestation and continues through at least 2
years after birth.

3. Synapse formation, pruning, and function

 These are connections between axons, dendrites, and cell bodies to
make connections with other cells.
 Synapse formation beings during gestation and continues throughout the
lifespan.
 Synapse density reaches a peak at different times in different brain areas
(e.g. between 4 to 12 months postpartum in the visual cortex, and after
15 months postpartum in the prefrontal cortex.)
 Synapse overproduction is completed in the second year after birth,
while synaptic pruning begins in the first year after birth and continues
through adolescence.

4. Myelination
 It is the formation of white, fatty matter that covers axons and
accelerates the speed nerve impulses travelling from one cell to another.
 Myelination begins as early as 12-14 weeks of gestation in the spinal
cord and continues until adulthood.
 The most significant period of myelination occurs from mid-gestation to
age 2 years.
 Before birth, myelination occurs in brain areas involved in orientation
and balance.
 After birth, the rate of myelination of areas involved in vision and
hearing reaches its peak before myelination of areas underlying
language, coinciding with the emergence of these abilities.

5. Apoptosis
 It refers to the process of cell death.

B. Influence of Nutrients on Brain Development

Nutrients Influence on Brain Development

Protein-energy  Adequate nutrition during pregnancy
and throughout infancy is necessary
for optimal cognitive development.

 In a large trial in Guatemala,

pregnant women and their children
up to the age of 7 years old were
provided with milk-based high
protein and energy drink with
micronutrients or a low protein and
 energy drink with micronutrient.
Children who received high protein
and energy drink had higher
cognitive scores at 4-5 years of age,
higher scores on tests of numeracy
(math), knowledge, vocabulary, and
reading achievement at 11-18 years if
age and on reading and IQ scores
(among women) at 22-29 years of
age, and 47% increase in average
wages (among men) at 26-42 years
of age.
 Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) and their
derivatives are important for
membrane function, synapse
function, and myelination.

 EFA-containing formula does not

affect general neurobehavioral
development in full-term infants. A
positive effect among preterm
infants, who are at risk for deficiency
in certain fatty acids, including DHA,
has been more frequently found.
Preterm infants are at risk because
fatty acids accumulate faster in the
Fatty acids brain during the third trimester.
Preterm birth interrupts this
accumulation and puts infant at risk
for deficiency.

 A recently published study showed

positive effect of EFA-containing
formula on vocabulary and IQ at the
age of 5-6 years old.

 Studies in Turkey, Ghana, and China

suggest that supplementation with
EFA may affect infant
neurodevelopment and motor
development
 Iron is an essential structural
component of the hemoglobin
molecule, which transports oxygen to
all the organs of the body including
the brain.
Iron
 Iron deficiency anemia during
infancy is a strong risk factor for
cognitive, motor, and socioemotional
impairment in both short and long-
term.
Iodine and thyroid hormones  Iodine is necessary for the synthesis
of thyroid hormones, which are
essential for central nervous system
development, including
neurogenesis, neuronal migration,
axon and dendrite growth,
synaptogenesis, and myelination.

 Pregnant women with severe iodine

deficiency may underproduce thyroid
hormones, leading to cretinism in the
 child.
 Zinc is the most abundant ion in the
brain where it contributes to brain
structure and function.

 Zinc supplementation during

pregnancy does not seem to improve
Zinc childhood cognitive or motor
development. Zinc supplementation
during infancy may positively affect
motor development and activity
levels, but it does not seen to affect
early cognitive ability.
Choline
 B-vitamins play a role in
carbohydrate metabolism (which
helps to provide the brain’s energy
supply), membrane structure and
function, and synapse formation and
B-vitamins
function.
 A recent study in Israel demonstrated
language deficits in 5-7-year-olds
who had been fed a thiamine-
deficient formula during infancy.

C. Factors Influencing the Impact of Undernutrition

1. Experience and input from the environment

 The parallel influences of nutrient deficiency and stimulation from the
environment on brain development may operate in several ways:
A. Additive effects
B. Interacting effects
C. Interacting effects
2. Timing of nutrient deprivation or supplementation
 Nutrient deficiency is more likely to impair development if the
deficiency occurs during a time period when the need for that nutrient
for neurodevelopment is high.
3. Degree of nutrient deficiency
 Brain development may be compromised when nutrient deficiency is
severe to moderate but spared when deficiency is mild to moderate.
 A number of homeostatic mechanism protect the developing fetus and
the developing brain from nutrient deficiency to a certain degree. For
example, in the case of placental insufficiency , when insufficient
nutrients and oxygen available, fetal cardiac output is redistributed such
that blood flow to the peripheral tissues decreases and blood flow to the
brain, adrenal glands, and heart increases.
 Several studies have shown that the effect of nutritional
supplementation on brain development depends on initial nutritional
status.
4. Possibility of recovery
 When certain part of the brain is damaged during early life, recovery
happens in three ways:
A. There are changes in the organization of the remaining
intact circuits in the brain that were left uninjured.
B. New circuitry
II. Nutrition and Behavioral Development

A. Small Gestational Age (SGA)

 SGA babies had poorer cognition
 SGA babies had poorer school performance levels
 SGA children have poorer attention span, more anxious and fidgety,
and less happy.
 B. Breast-feeding
 Breast-fed individuals showed small consistent benefit than non-breast ones
 Breast-fed individuals had better reading ability and id better in school.
 Breast-fed children were not different from those who were given preterm
formula, although they had better mental development than children who
received term formula.
 It is possible that any benefit from breast-feeding is due to unique nutritional
content, and most research focused on the role of essential fatty acids.
 Improved maternal interaction and reduced morbidity may have also
contributed.
 Mothers who breast-feed are usually different from those who do not.

C. Iodine Deficiency
 I-deficient children had poorer cognitive function and school achievement.

D. Protein-energy Malnutrition
 Formerly malnourished children had poorer cognitive function and school
achievement, and behavior differences.
 Formerly severely-malnourished children have also shown to have
neurological soft signs and poorer fine motor performance.
 They also make poorer relationships with peer and adults, and have poorer
attention.

Effects of Supplementation
 Children (8 to 15 years old) of iodine-supplemented mothers had better
school achievement and IQ scores; iodine supplementation reduced cretinism
and better motor skills; and there is some association with cognitive function
and maternal thyroxine during pregnancy.

Preventive versus Remedial Supplementation

 High-energy high-protein supplementation among children from poorest
homes resulted to high test scores on numeracy, knowledge, and vocabulary
and reading.

III. The State of Child Nutrition in the Philippines

 1/3 of Filipinos are stunted.
 7% of Filipino children are too thin for their height.
 10% of Filipinos are overweight.
 36.6 stunting rates among one-year-olds.
 15.5% stunting rates among infants 6-11 months old.
 30% stunting rates among children 3 to 4-year old.
 1/3 of babies are breastfed during the first six months.
 44% of children 6-23 months old are not fed with fruits and vegetables.
 59% are not fed with eggs, dairy products, fish or meat.
 Adolescent obesity has tripled in the last 15 years because of processed foods
high in salt, fats and sugar are becoming more accessible and affordable.
 42% adolescents drink carbonated soda.
 46% east fastfood

References

Grantham-McGregor, Walker, S.P., & Chang, S. (2000). Nutritional deficiencies and

later behavioral development. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 59, 47-54.

Noorani, S. (October 16, 2019). UNICEF: many children and adolescents in the
Philippines are not growing up healthily. Retrieved March 3, 2020 from
https://www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/unicef-many-children-and-
adolescents-philippines-are-not-growing-healthily
Prado, E.L. & Dewey, K.G. (2014). Nutrition and brain development in early life.
Nutrition Reviews, 72(4), 267-284.