Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2025

Measuring the Functional Abilities of Children Aged 3-6 Years Old with Observational Methods and Computer Tools
Published on: June 20, 2020
Does early nutrition predict cognitive skills during later childhood? Evidence from two developing countries
Alan Sánchez1, Marta Favara2, Margaret Sheridan3
1Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo (GRADE) (Lima, Peru), and Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford (Oxford, UK).
Early undernutrition, specifically stunting, negatively impacts children's executive functions like working memory and inhibitory control. This research highlights nutrition's crucial role in developing foundational cognitive skills for learning.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Public Health Nutrition
- Child Development
Background:
- Existing research links early undernutrition to educational outcomes but overlooks foundational cognitive skills.
- Evidence is limited on how undernutrition affects executive functioning, working memory, inhibitory control, long-term memory, and implicit learning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between early undernutrition and foundational cognitive skills in children.
- To analyze the impact of stunting on executive functions using longitudinal data.
Main Methods:
- Utilized unique longitudinal data from the Young Lives Study in Ethiopia and Peru.
- Employed household fixed-effects estimates using paired-sibling data to control for confounders.
- Measured four foundational cognitive skills, including working memory and inhibitory control.
Main Results:
- Stunting around age 5 is robustly linked to reduced executive functions measured later in childhood.
- Reductions observed in working memory (12.6%) and inhibitory control (5.8%) of a standard deviation.
- Evidence suggests the negative impact of stunting on executive functions, particularly working memory, begins earlier in childhood.
Conclusions:
- Early undernutrition, especially stunting, impairs critical executive functions essential for learning.
- Improved nutrition is vital for enhancing children's cognitive capacities and educational success.
- Findings elucidate mechanisms connecting early nutrition to academic achievement through cognitive skill development.
More Related Videos
08:10Neuroimaging Field Methods Using Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy NIRS Neuroimaging to Study Global Child Development: Rural Sub-Saharan Africa
Published on: February 2, 2018
06:19Author Spotlight: Implications of Non-Nutritive Sucking on Speech Emergence and Infant Development
Published on: April 19, 2024
Related Concept Videos
Environmental Influences on Intelligence
Biological Influences on Intelligence
Information Processing Approach
The Nativist Approach
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development from Childhood into Adulthood
Schemata: Building Blocks of...
Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types