Does Nutrition Affect The Developing Brain Of A Child?
Brain development is most sensitive to a baby’s nutrition between birth and three years of age. Breast milk offers the best mix of nutrients for promoting brain growth, provided that breast-fed infants receive some form of iron supplementation beginning around six months of age. Children who are malnourished and deprived of adequate calories and protein in their diet throughout this period do not adequately grow, either physically or mentally. Inadequate brain growth explains why children who were malnourished as fetuses and infants suffer often lasting behavioral and cognitive deficits, including slower language and fine motor development, lower IQ, and poorer school performance.
