title: Nutritional status and intellectual development in children: A community-based study from rural Southern India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is a dearth of recent data on the relationship between nutritional status and intellectual development among children in India. To determine whether such a relationship exists, we studied children in a rural area of Tamil Nadu.
  
  
  METHODS
  We stratified villages in Kaniyambadi block, Tamil Nadu, and recruited consecutive children who satisfied the study criteria. We assessed nutritional status by measuring height and weight and recording chronological age, and calculated indices weight-for-age, height-for-age, weight-forheight and their Z scores. We assessed intellectual development using the Indian adaptation of the Vineland Social Maturity Scale. We used a case-control framework to determine the relationship and logistic regression to adjust for common confounders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We recruited 114 children between the ages of 12 and 72 months. Z score means (weight-for-age -1.36; height-for-age -1.42; weight-for-height -0.78) were much less than 0 and indicate undernutrition. Z score standard deviations (weight-for-age 1.04; height-for-age 1.18; weightfor- height 1.06) were within the WHO recommended range for good quality of nutrition data suggesting reduced measurement errors and incorrect reporting of age. The frequency distributions of population Z scores suggest high undernutrition, wasting and medium stunting. A tenth of the population (9.6%) had values to suggest borderline/below average intelligence (social quotient <89). Lower height-forage, height-for-age Z score and weight-for-height Z score were significantly associated with a lower social quotient. These relationships remained statistically significant after adjusting for sex and socioeconomic status using logistic regression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chronic undernutrition, wasting and stunting and their association with lower intellectual development demand an urgent re-assessment of national food policies and programmes.
authors: Department of Community Health, Christian Medical College, Vellore 632002, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Amita
authors: A
authors: Jacob
authors: Department of Community Health, Christian Medical College, Vellore 632002, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Leah
authors: L
authors: Thomas
authors: Department of Community Health, Christian Medical College, Vellore 632002, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Kezia
authors: K
authors: Stephen
authors: Department of Community Health, Christian Medical College, Vellore 632002, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Sam
authors: S
authors: Marconi
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Vellore 632002, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Noel
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Vellore 632002, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: K S
authors: KS
authors: Jacob
authors: Department of Community Health, Christian Medical College, Vellore 632002, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Jasmin
authors: J
authors: Prasad
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009752:Nutritional Status / Q000502:physiology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult