ArticleThe Journal of nutrition2019
Early Life Child Micronutrient Status, Maternal Reasoning, and a Nurturing Household Environment have Persistent Influences on Child Cognitive Development at Age 5 years: Results from MAL-ED.
Article in The Journal of nutrition, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of Home Parenting Environment on Cognitive and Psychomotor Development in Children Under 5 Years Old: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2021Pooled it
- Prenatal and postnatal droughts interact in shaping cognitive development.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Growth and cognition over eight years in three sites of the MAL-ED cohort study.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Development and validation of an educational comic book on healthy eating in early childhood.Journal of nutritional science · 2026Article
- A systematic bibliometric and meta analysis of key factors and emerging AI and ML insights in shaping child cognitive development.Discover mental health · 2025Review
- Early life adverse environmental, nutrition and infection factors are associated with lower developmental scores in Pakistani children at 5 years: a cohort study.BMJ nutrition, prevention & health · 2024Article
- Iron status in early infancy is associated with trajectories of cognitive development up to pre-school age in rural Gambia.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Impact of Shigella infections and inflammation early in life on child growth and school-aged cognitive outcomes: Findings from three birth cohorts over eight years.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Examining the relationships between early childhood experiences and adolescent and young adult health status in a resource-limited population: A cohort study.PLoS medicine · 2021Article
- Developmental trends in early childhood and their predictors from an Indian birth cohort.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Children Following In Utero Exposure to Zika in Nicaragua.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2021Article
- Early Life Experiences and Trajectories of Cognitive Development.Pediatrics · 2020Observational
- Psychosocial and environmental determinants of child cognitive development in rural south africa and tanzania: findings from the mal-ed cohort.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Environmental mixtures and children's health: identifying appropriate statistical approaches.Current opinion in pediatrics · 2020Review
- Impact of early-onset persistent stunting on cognitive development at 5 years of age: Results from a multi-country cohort study.PloS one · 2020Article
- Adjusting iron and vitamin A status in settings of inflammation: a sensitivity analysis of the Biomarkers Reflecting Inflammation and Nutritional Determinants of Anemia (BRINDA) approach.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2019Article
- Conceptualizations of Child Development Benefit from Inclusion of the Nurturing Care Framework.The Journal of nutrition · 2019Article
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20 authors at 13 institutions in 9 countries.
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Abstract
backgroundChild cognitive development is influenced by early-life insults and protective factors. To what extent these factors have a long-term legacy on child development and hence fulfillment of cognitive potential is unknown.
objectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the relation between early-life factors (birth to 2 y) and cognitive development at 5 y.
methodsObservational follow-up visits were made of children at 5 y, previously enrolled in the community-based MAL-ED longitudinal cohort. The burden of enteropathogens, prevalence of illness, complementary diet intake, micronutrient status, and household and maternal factors from birth to 2 y were extensively measured and their relation with the Wechsler Preschool Primary Scales of Intelligence at 5 y was examined through use of linear regression.
resultsCognitive T-scores from 813 of 1198 (68%) children were examined and 5 variables had significant associations in multivariable models: mean child plasma transferrin receptor concentration (β: -1.81, 95% CI: -2.75, -0.86), number of years of maternal education (β: 0.27, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.45), maternal cognitive reasoning score (β: 0.09, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.15), household assets score (β: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.24, 1.04), and HOME child cleanliness factor (β: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.05, 1.15). In multivariable models, the mean rate of enteropathogen detections, burden of illness, and complementary food intakes between birth and 2 y were not significantly related to 5-y cognition.
conclusionsA nurturing home context in terms of a healthy/clean environment and household wealth, provision of adequate micronutrients, maternal education, and cognitive reasoning have a strong and persistent influence on child cognitive development. Efforts addressing aspects of poverty around micronutrient status, nurturing caregiving, and enabling home environments are likely to have lasting positive impacts on child cognitive development.
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