0
selected
-
1.
Developmental fluoride neurotoxicity: an updated review.
Grandjean, P
Environmental health : a global access science source. 2019;(1):110
Abstract
BACKGROUND After the discovery of fluoride as a caries-preventing agent in the mid-twentieth century, fluoridation of community water has become a widespread intervention, sometimes hailed as a mainstay of modern public health. However, this practice results in elevated fluoride intake and has become controversial for two reasons. First, topical fluoride application in the oral cavity appears to be a more direct and appropriate means of preventing caries. Second, systemic fluoride uptake is suspected of causing adverse effects, in particular neurotoxicity during early development. The latter is supported by experimental neurotoxicity findings and toxicokinetic evidence of fluoride passing into the brain. METHOD An integrated literature review was conducted on fluoride exposure and intellectual disability, with a main focus on studies on children published subsequent to a meta-analysis from 2012. RESULTS Fourteen recent cross-sectional studies from endemic areas with naturally high fluoride concentrations in groundwater supported the previous findings of cognitive deficits in children with elevated fluoride exposures. Three recent prospective studies from Mexico and Canada with individual exposure data showed that early-life exposures were negatively associated with children's performance on cognitive tests. Neurotoxicity appeared to be dose-dependent, and tentative benchmark dose calculations suggest that safe exposures are likely to be below currently accepted or recommended fluoride concentrations in drinking water. CONCLUSION The recent epidemiological results support the notion that elevated fluoride intake during early development can result in IQ deficits that may be considerable. Recognition of neurotoxic risks is necessary when determining the safety of fluoride-contaminated drinking water and fluoride uses for preventive dentistry purposes.
-
2.
Examining Childhood Obesity From Infancy: The Relationship Between Tummy Time, Infant BMI-z, Weight Gain, and Motor Development-An Exploratory Study.
Koren, A, Kahn-D'angelo, L, Reece, SM, Gore, R
Journal of pediatric health care : official publication of National Association of Pediatric Nurse Associates & Practitioners. 2019;(1):80-91
Abstract
INTRODUCTION This exploratory study investigated the infant time spent in tummy time (TT) in relation to body mass index z score (BMI-z), weight gain, and motor development in infants from birth to 4 months. METHOD Mothers and their infants were telephone surveyed at 2 and 4 months. Mother demographics; TT; feeding practices; and infant length, and height, and development were collected each time. RESULTS Results from Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel and single logistic regression showed a significant association between development, level of BMI-z, and time spent in TT at 2 months of age (p < .0001). The threshold model showed there was a decline in BMI-z at 4 months as daily time in TT increases past the threshold value of approximately 12 minutes per day. Mother education and TT at 2 months were significant predictors of BMI-z at 4 months. DISCUSSION Study outcomes suggest that infant positioning and time in TT promote infant motor development and may moderate rapid infant weight gain.
-
3.
Early Caregiver-Child Interaction and Children's Development: Lessons from the St. Petersburg-USA Orphanage Intervention Research Project.
McCall, RB, Groark, CJ, Hawk, BN, Julian, MM, Merz, EC, Rosas, JM, Muhamedrahimov, RJ, Palmov, OI, Nikiforova, NV
Clinical child and family psychology review. 2019;(2):208-224
Abstract
We review a series of interrelated studies on the development of children residing in institutions (i.e., orphanages) in the Russian Federation or placed with families in the USA and the Russian Federation. These studies rely on a single population, and many potential parameters that typically vary in the literature are similar across studies. The conceptual focus is on the role of early caregiver-child interactions and environmental factors that influence those interactions in children's development. Generally, children residing in institutions that provided minimal caregiver-child interactions displayed delayed physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development. Children and adolescents adopted from such institutions at 18 months of age or older had higher rates of behavioral and executive function problems, even many years after adoption. An intervention that improved the institutional environment by increasing the quality of caregiver-child interactions-without changes in nutrition, medical care, sanitation, and safety-led to substantial increases in the physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development of resident children with and without disabilities. Follow-up studies of children in this intervention who were subsequently placed with USA and Russian families revealed some longer-term benefits of the intervention. Implications are discussed for theoretical understanding of the role of early caregiver-child interactions in development as well as for practice and policy.
-
4.
Choline and choline-related nutrients in regular and preterm infant growth.
Bernhard, W, Poets, CF, Franz, AR
European journal of nutrition. 2019;(3):931-945
Abstract
BACKGROUND Choline is an essential nutrient, with increased requirements during development. It forms the headgroup of phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin in all membranes and many secretions. Phosphatidylcholine is linked to cell signaling as a phosphocholine donor to synthesize sphingomyelin from ceramide, a trigger of apoptosis, and is the major carrier of arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acid in plasma. Acetylcholine is important for neurodevelopment and the placental storage form for fetal choline supply. Betaine, a choline metabolite, functions as osmolyte and methyl donor. Their concentrations are all tightly regulated in tissues. CLINCAL IMPACT During the fetal growth spurt at 24-34-week postmenstrual age, plasma choline is higher than beyond 34 weeks, and threefold higher than in pregnant women [45 (36-60) µmol/L vs. 14 (10-17) µmol/L]. The rapid decrease in plasma choline after premature birth suggests an untimely reduction in choline supply, as cellular uptake is proportional to plasma concentration. Supply via breast milk, with phosphocholine and α-glycerophosphocholine as its major choline components, does not prevent such postnatal decrease. Moreover, high amounts of liver PC are secreted via bile, causing rapid hepatic choline turnover via the enterohepatic cycle, and deficiency in case of pancreatic phospholipase A2 deficiency or intestinal resection. Choline deficiency causes hepatic damage and choline accretion at the expense of the lungs and other tissues. CONCLUSION Choline deficiency may contribute to the impaired lean body mass growth and pulmonary and neurocognitive development of preterm infants despite adequate macronutrient supply and weight gain. In this context, a reconsideration of current recommendations for choline supply to preterm infants is required.
-
5.
Undernutrition and growth in the developing world.
Nijjar, JK, Stafford, D
Current opinion in endocrinology, diabetes, and obesity. 2019;(1):32-38
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Despite targeted interventions, an estimated 150.8 million children under 5 years globally are still stunted, of which more than half live in Asia and more than one-third live in Africa. This review summarizes our current knowledge regarding how longitudinal bone growth is regulated by nutritional intake in the developing world. Dietary macronutrients and micronutrients necessary for growth are also briefly reviewed. RECENT FINDINGS Recent advances include investigations of nutritionally sensitive regulators of growth as well as prospective evaluations of the role of specific dietary components on growth in order to better assess their impact. SUMMARY Further investigation is required to understand how nutrition impacts growth, the mechanisms underlying stunting and to optimize therapeutic strategies for children who are at risk for growth attenuation or are stunted in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).
-
6.
Environmental influences on health and development: nutrition, substance exposure, and adverse childhood experiences.
Gentner, MB, Leppert, MLO
Developmental medicine and child neurology. 2019;(9):1008-1014
-
-
Free full text
-
Abstract
Scientific advances over the last century have generated compelling evidence of the primary and secondary effects of gestational, infant, and childhood conditions. These early environmental influences have the potential not only to impact an individual's health outcomes, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer, but also to confer various protections and risks to that individual's descendants. The immediate and extended ramifications of early environmental exposure bring an understanding of epidemiological impact on disease states and a hope for prevention. This review highlights the contributions of several key population studies and briefly explores specific environmental influences, including nutritional deficiencies, exposure to substances and infections, and adverse childhood experiences. Mechanisms of these influences (e.g. stress and epigenetics) are discussed, as well as possible means of mitigating their negative consequences. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS Substance exposures in utero are associated with epigenetic changes and negative outcomes. Adverse childhood experiences in early childhood can induce HPA and epigenetic changes.
-
7.
Neonatal Eating Outcome Assessment: tool development and inter-rater reliability.
Pineda, R, Harris, R, Foci, F, Roussin, J, Wallendorf, M
Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992). 2018;(3):414-424
-
-
Free full text
-
Abstract
AIM: To define the process of tool development and revision for the Neonatal Eating Outcome (NEO) Assessment and to report preliminary inter-rater reliability. METHODS Tool development consisted of a review of the literature and observations of feeding performance among 178 preterm infants born ≤32 weeks gestation. 11 neonatal therapy feeding experts provided structured feedback to establish content validity and define the scoring matrix. The tool was then used to evaluate feeding in 50 preterm infants born ≤32 weeks of gestation and 50 full-term infants. Multiple revisions occurred at each stage of development. Finally, six neonatal occupational therapists participated in reliability testing by independently scoring five videos of oral feeding of preterm infants using version 4 of the tool. RESULTS The intraclass correlation for the 'prefeeding' score was 0.71 (0.37-0.96), and the intraclass correlation for the 'total' score was 0.83 (0.56-0.98). CONCLUSION The 'total' score had good to excellent reliability. Fleiss' Kappa scores for all 18 scorable items ranged from slight agreement to moderate agreement. Items with the lowest Kappa scores were revised, and additional feedback from therapists engaged in reliability testing was incorporated, resulting in final version 5.
-
8.
Dietary DHA, bioaccessibility, and neurobehavioral development in children.
Cardoso, C, Afonso, C, Bandarra, NM
Critical reviews in food science and nutrition. 2018;(15):2617-2631
Abstract
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a key nutritional n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid and needs to be supplied by the human diet. High levels of DHA intake appear to reduce the risk of depression, bipolar disorder, and mood disorders. On the basis of these connections between DHA and neurological health, this paper reviews what is currently known about DHA and children neurodevelopment as well as the benefits of DHA intake to prevention of autism and behavior disorders through a selective and representative revision of different papers ranging from pure observational studies to randomized controlled trials (RCTs). This review also highlights the issue of DHA bioaccessibility and its implications to the performance of studies. As main conclusions, it can be mentioned that high DHA intake may prevent autism disorder. However, more studies are required to strengthen the connection between autism and dietary DHA. Regarding behavioral disorders, the evidence is also contradictory, thereby raising the need of further studies. From all screened studies on autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and other disorders, it can be concluded that study samples should be larger for greater statistical significance and RCTs should be more carefully designed.
-
9.
Glucose Requirements of the Developing Human Brain.
Goyal, MS, Raichle, ME
Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition. 2018;(Suppl 3):S46-S49
-
-
Free full text
-
Abstract
Adequate nutrition is critical for human brain development, which depends particularly upon glucose. The adult human brain accounts for 20% to 25% of total body resting glucose consumption, and studies indicate that the developing brain requires an even greater percentage of glucose. Here we critically review the currently available data on glucose requirements for early childhood brain development. Implications of these findings are then discussed in the context of childhood malnutrition and future areas of investigation.
-
10.
Neurodevelopmental outcomes following necrotizing enterocolitis.
Hickey, M, Georgieff, M, Ramel, S
Seminars in fetal & neonatal medicine. 2018;(6):426-432
Abstract
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a gastrointestinal emergency predominantly affecting premature infants, is associated with increased risk for poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. NEC often strikes during a period of rapid and dynamic neurologic development when the brain is particularly vulnerable to insults and nutrient deficits. The pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental impairment following NEC is likely multifactorial, with both nutritional and non-nutritional factors at play. Follow-up testing that ensures early detection and intervention for impairments is crucial to optimize neurodevelopmental outcomes following NEC. A multifaceted approach to follow-up after NEC is necessary, with close monitoring of growth, serial developmental assessments, neurologic examinations, hearing and vision testing and neuroimaging. Further research is needed to understand the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental impairment following NEC, to identify more targeted follow-up tests, and to discover interventions aimed at optimizing neurodevelopmental outcomes following NEC.