title: Nutrition and neurodevelopment in children: focus on NUTRIMENTHE project.
abstract: There is growing evidence that early nutrition affects later cognitive performance. The idea that the diet of mothers, infants, and children could affect later mental performance has major implications for public health practice and policy development and for our understanding of human biology as well as for food product development, economic progress, and future wealth creation. To date, however, much of the evidence is from animal, retrospective studies and short-term nutritional intervention studies in humans. The positive effect of micronutrients on health, especially of pregnant women eating well to maximise their child's cognitive and behavioural outcomes, is commonly acknowledged. The current evidence of an association between gestational nutrition and brain development in healthy children is more credible for folate, n-3 fatty acids, and iron. Recent findings highlight the fact that single-nutrient supplementation is less adequate than supplementation with more complex formulae. However, the optimal content of micronutrient supplementation and whether there is a long-term impact on child's neurodevelopment needs to be investigated further. Moreover, it is also evident that future studies should take into account genetic heterogeneity when evaluating nutritional effects and also nutritional recommendations. The objective of the present review is to provide a background and update on the current knowledge linking nutrition to cognition and behaviour in children, and to show how the large collaborative European Project NUTRIMENTHE is working towards this aim.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Anjos
authors.forename: Signe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Altmäe
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Emmett
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tiemeier
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Closa-Monasterolo
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Luque
authors.forename: Sheila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wiseman
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pérez-García
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lattka
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Demmelmair
authors.forename: Bernadette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Egan
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Straub
authors.forename: Hania
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Szajewska
authors.forename: Jayne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Horton
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Paus
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Isaacs
authors.forename: Jan Willem
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: van Klinken
authors.forename: Berthold
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koletzko
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Campoy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D004032:Diet; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D018977:Micronutrients / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care
chemical_list: D018977:Micronutrients