Summary: In young children, poor nutrition coupled with living in a chaotic environment can be detrimental to cognitive and executive function.
Font: University of Illinois
Poor nutrition, coupled with living in a chaotic home environment, can negatively affect young children’s executive functioning, the higher-order cognitive skills that govern memory, attention, and emotional control, researchers at the University of New York have found. Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Children ages 18 months to 2 years who ate higher amounts of sugary snacks and processed foods were more likely to have problems with core components of executive functioning, such as inhibition, working memory, and planning and organization skills, according to surveys completed by their caregivers.
The nearly 300 families who participated in the research were part of an ongoing birth cohort study in which researchers began collecting data on children’s dietary habits, weight trajectories, social-emotional skills, and family relationships when they were about 6 weeks old.
Although similar research examining links between nutrition and executive function was previously conducted with older children and adolescents, the current study was novel in that it focused on children at ages when they were developing these vital skills and on that dietary habits and home environments could play a key role. .
“Children begin to rapidly develop executive functions between the ages of 2 and 5, and we wanted to look at that early period when parents were making critical food-related decisions and the impact they had on children’s cognitive abilities,” said first author Samantha Iwinski, a graduate student who has worked with the project for several years.
published in the magazine nutrientsThe study was based on a large amount of data collected from the children’s caregivers, including a dietary intake questionnaire that assessed how often each child ate various fresh and processed foods.
Caregivers also completed a behavioral inventory that measured various dimensions of executive function, such as whether the child was easily overwhelmed or had recurring problems playing or talking too loudly.
Additionally, each caregiver answered questions about chaos in the home, such as whether the child’s home environment was typically quiet and operated with set routines or prone to noise, crowding, and disorganization.
Previous research with adolescents and young adults has linked domestic chaos to behavioral problems and poor performance on tasks related to core dimensions of executive function, such as the ability to focus and control one’s emotions.
Consequently, analyzes by the U. of I. researchers suggested that poor nutrition, including regular consumption of various snacks and processed foods, was associated with decreased cognitive and behavioral performance among children in the study.
“We found that higher intake of these foods was associated with lower levels of certain indices, including emotional control, inhibition, and planning and organization,” Iwinski said. “Even at this young age, dietary intake can affect children’s executive function on multiple levels.”
The U. of I. team hypothesized that quieter homes with predictable routines might buffer the effects of poor diet on children’s executive function.
Instead of moderating the relationship between executive function and dietary intake as the team had hypothesized, domestic chaos was independently correlated with children’s cognitive abilities.
The findings highlight the importance of both good nutrition and healthy home environments in promoting children’s best cognitive development, said co-author Kelly Freeman Bost, a professor of child development and psychology.
To mitigate potential negative effects on children’s cognitive abilities, Iwinski suggested that prevention programs focus on activities and supports that help parents establish healthy routines and limit their children’s consumption of unhealthy snacks and foods. sons.
“Children may not understand the cues around them when environments are noisy or disorganized, and a lack of routine and consistency can influence their attention and emotional regulation,” Iwinski said.
“These children may not be able to interpret cues and respond appropriately in certain social and emotional situations.”
To better understand the correlations found in the current study and examine how they persist or evolve as children get older, Iwinski and his co-authors are planning a follow-up study with the same families and their children, now ages 5 to 6. .
However, because the sample lacked racial, ethnic, and economic diversity, the findings may not generalize to other populations. More studies with diverse populations and longitudinal and experimental project designs are needed before causal claims can be made, the researchers said.
Bost and Iwinski co-wrote the article with U. of I faculty members Sharon M. Donovan, professor and chair of nutrition and health Melissa M. Noel; and Barbara H. Fiese, co-director of the STRONG Kids2 project and professor emeritus of human development and family studies.
See also
About this news of research in neurodevelopment and diet
Author: Sharita Forrest
Font: University of Illinois
Contact: Sharita Forrest – University of Illinois
Image: The image is in the public domain.
original research: Open access.
“The impact of domestic chaos and dietary intake on executive function in young children.” by Samantha Iwinski et al. Nutrition
Summary
The impact of domestic chaos and dietary intake on executive function in young children.
Children’s executive functions (EFs) emerge over time and can be shaped by home environments and dietary intake. However, there is a lack of knowledge about how these factors influence EFs in children aged 18 to 24 months.
This study tested a model that explores relationships between parent-reported dietary intake, chaos in the home, and childhood EF.
The sample consisted of 294 families who participated in the STRONG Kids2 Birth Cohort Study on Child Health and Nutrition. Caregivers completed the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), the Confusion, Disruption, and Order Scale (CHAOS), and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function®-Preschool version (BRIEF-P) to evaluate variables of the model. Regression analyzes revealed a significant and independent association between assorted snacks and processed foods and two EF subscales.
There were also significant associations between home chaos and each EF subscale. There was no significant moderation effect.
These findings suggest that family homes characterized by dysregulation are associated with children’s EF difficulties during early childhood and that the role of unhealthy dietary intake in childhood EF should be further explored.
Future longitudinal studies including multi-method approaches are needed to document the mechanisms through which chaos in the home affects children’s EFs over time.
