Nutritional Sciences Human Development and Family Sciences Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.
Matern Child Nutr. 2013 Apr;9(2):274-84. doi: 10.1111/j.1740-8709.2011.00345.x. Epub 2011 Aug 2.
The purpose of this study was to assess the nutritional status and cognitive performance of women and their 5-year-old children using a cross-sectional design. Cognitive performance of mothers and children was assessed with Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices (CPM) and Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-II (KABC-II). Demographic characteristics, food consumption patterns and anthropometry were also measured. Four rural districts in Sidama, southern Ethiopia served as the setting for this study. Subjects were one hundred women and their 5-year-old children. Mean ± standard deviation age of the mothers was 29 ± 6 years and family size was 7.0 ± 2.6. Maternal body mass index (BMI) ranged from 15.3 to 29.0 with 14% of the mothers having BMI < 18.5. Anthropometric assessment of children revealed 29% to be stunted (height-for-age z-score < -2) and 12% to be underweight (weight-for-age z-score < -2). Mothers' education significantly contributed to prediction of both mothers' and children's cognitive test scores. There were significant differences in mean cognitive test scores between stunted and non-stunted, and between underweight and normal-weight children. Height-for-age z-scores were correlated with scores for short-term memory (r = 0.42, P < 0.001), and visual processing (r = 0.42, P < 0.001) indices and weight-for-age z-scores were also correlated with scores of short-term memory (r = 0.41, P < 0.001) and visual processing (r = 0.43, P < 0.001) indices. Malnutrition in the community likely contributed to the cognitive performance of the subjects. Performance on memory and visual processing tasks was significantly lower in children with growth deficits suggesting that efficient and cost effective methods to alleviate malnutrition and food insecurity would impact not only child health but also cognitive function.
本研究旨在采用横断面设计评估妇女及其 5 岁儿童的营养状况和认知表现。采用瑞文彩色渐进矩阵（CPM）和考夫曼儿童评估量表-II（KABC-II）评估母亲和儿童的认知表现。还测量了人口统计学特征、食物消费模式和人体测量学。本研究在埃塞俄比亚南部锡达马的四个农村地区进行。研究对象为 100 名妇女及其 5 岁儿童。母亲的平均年龄为 29 岁±6 岁，家庭规模为 7.0 人±2.6 人。母亲的体重指数（BMI）范围为 15.3 至 29.0，其中 14%的母亲 BMI 低于 18.5。儿童的人体测量评估显示，29%的儿童发育迟缓（身高年龄 z 评分<-2），12%的儿童体重不足（体重年龄 z 评分<-2）。母亲的教育程度对母亲和儿童认知测试分数的预测有显著贡献。发育迟缓与非发育迟缓儿童以及体重不足与正常体重儿童之间的平均认知测试分数存在显著差异。身高年龄 z 评分与短期记忆（r=0.42，P<0.001）和视觉处理（r=0.42，P<0.001）指数的得分相关，体重年龄 z 评分也与短期记忆（r=0.41，P<0.001）和视觉处理（r=0.43，P<0.001）指数的得分相关。社区营养不良可能导致研究对象的认知表现下降。在有生长缺陷的儿童中，记忆和视觉处理任务的表现明显较低，这表明有效和具有成本效益的方法来缓解营养不良和粮食不安全不仅会影响儿童健康，还会影响认知功能。
