Nutrition programs alone are not enough to support healthy brain development

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-09/uoc--npa091619.php

News Release 17-Sep-2019
University of California - Davis

A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Davis, shows that caregiving programs are five times more effective than nutrition programs in supporting smarter, not just taller, children in low- and middle-income countries.

The research, published in the journal The Lancet Global Health, examined 75 early intervention programs and their effects on children's growth and brain development. Researchers have known adequate nutrition during pregnancy and childhood improve both conditions. But children growing up in poverty face a variety of risk factors that could govern growth and development differently.

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Prado says interventions that promote caregiving and learning, such as parents playing games, singing songs and telling stories with their children, have far bigger effects on children's cognitive skills, language skills and motor development.

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