Judge Baker Children's Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02120, USA.
Nutr Neurosci. 2011 Jul;14(4):138-44. doi: 10.1179/147683011X13009738172521.
To determine whether externalizing behaviors are more prevalent in youth who have experienced an episode of malnutrition in the first year of life than in healthy comparison youth.
Parents of previously malnourished youth and a matched healthy comparison group completed a behavior rating scale when the youth were 9-15 years of age and again, 2 years later, when they were 11-17 years of age. Longitudinal multiple regression analysis was applied to evaluate group differences adjusted for baseline age, sex, household standard of living, and maternal depressive symptoms.
Early childhood malnutrition was associated with problems in executive functioning at both occasions. Malnutrition also predicted discernibly higher parent-reported levels of aggression toward peers at 9-15 years than at 11-17 years. These findings were independent of baseline age, sex, household standard of living, and maternal depressive symptoms. Problem behaviors in general decreased during follow-up.
Parents report persisting problems with executive functioning through adolescence in youth who suffered an episode of moderate-to-severe protein-energy malnutrition in the first year of life, while reports of aggression, although more common when this cohort were younger, did not persist at follow-up.
确定在生命的第一年经历过营养不良发作的青少年是否比健康的对照组青少年更容易出现外化行为。
当这些青少年 9-15 岁和 2 年后的 11-17 岁时，曾经历过营养不良的青少年的父母和一个匹配的健康对照组完成了一个行为评定量表。应用纵向多元回归分析来评估组间差异，调整基线年龄、性别、家庭生活水平和母亲抑郁症状。
幼儿期营养不良与两次测试中执行功能问题相关。营养不良还预测了 9-15 岁时家长报告的对同伴的攻击行为明显高于 11-17 岁时的水平。这些发现独立于基线年龄、性别、家庭生活水平和母亲抑郁症状。一般来说，在随访期间行为问题有所减少。
父母报告说，在生命的第一年经历过中重度蛋白质能量营养不良的青少年在整个青春期都存在持续的执行功能问题，而攻击行为虽然在这个队列中更常见，但在随访中并没有持续存在。
