Effects of a nutrition education programme on the psychological performance of malnourished children. A 3-year follow-up study.
A group of 63 black children who were treated for protein energy malnutrition within their first 3 years of life were followed up after a period of 3 years. Half the group had undergone a home-based nutrition education programme in addition to receiving routine medical care, while the remaining children received only medical care and formed a control group. No differences were found at follow-up between these two groups on either growth or psychological performance measures. The malnourished group was subsequently matched for age and sex with a normal group of children and compared for psychological functioning, growth and socio-economic background. The malnourished children were found to be smaller and to have significant deficits in psychological performance compared with the normal group. While the findings illustrate the need for preventive and remedial action, they also reveal the shortcomings of brief unidimensional intervention programmes.
D001741:Black or African American; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D052756:Nutritional Sciences / Q000193:education*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011897:Random Allocation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors