Research: Stimulating growth-stunted children

14 March 2006

Giving poorly nourished, growth-stunted children mental and social stimulation early in life has lasting cognitive benefits.

In developing countries, poor nutrition early in life causes stunting in a third of all children under the age of five. This early growth retardation is associated with cognitive deficits and poor performance at school in late adolescence.

Researchers led by Professor Susan Walker at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica have been following a cohort of growth-retarded children since 1987. In previous work, these children had received nutritional supplements and/or psychosocial stimulation – home visits for mothers and children by community health workers trained to demonstrate stimulation activities and encourage mother–child interaction – for two years, starting between ages nine and 24 months. Both interventions benefited development in early childhood.

In this follow-up, the team discovered that children who had received psychosocial stimulation scored significantly higher, aged 17–18, on cognitive tests than stunted non-stimulated adolescents (though still lower than their non-stunted peers). Nutritional supplementation alone provided no cognitive benefits at this age.

External links

• Walker SP et al. Effects of early childhood psychosocial stimulation and nutritional supplementation on cognition and education in growth-stunted Jamaican children: prospective cohort study. Lancet 2005;366(9499):1804–7.