….a better diet for pregnant mothers and infants would eventually make humanity more intelligent. Alas, child malnutrition is far from being eradicated\u2014and not just in poor, war-charred places like Congo. Many middle-income countries also have shockingly high rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How much of a cognitive boost would the world get from feeding babies better? Precision is tricky, but scientists agree it would be huge. If a fetus\u2019s weight is below the tenth percentile, the child can expect to score half a standard deviation worse on all neuro-developmental measures\u2014the rough equivalent of seven iq<\/small> points. After birth, the speeds at which a baby puts on weight (before four months) and length (before 12 months) are good predictors of iq<\/small> at the age of nine. A study in Bangladesh found that the combination of malnutrition and inadequate stimulation common in poor families was associated with an iq<\/small> gap of a whole standard deviation (about 15 points) by the age of five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even if a baby has enough macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fat), its brain development can be hobbled by a lack of micronutrients such as iron, iodine or zinc. Yet such deficiencies remain rife: half the world\u2019s young children and two-thirds of women of reproductive age do not get enough micronutrients. For brain development, the most serious shortfall is iron. Two-fifths of children aged 6-59 months were anaemic (iron deficient) in 2019. Between 2012 and 2019, at least 92 countries saw no improvement on this score, laments Dr Shekar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> The cover of @TheEconomist<\/a> this week: Small investments in nutrition could make the world brainier pic.twitter.com\/kEsSdAieMt<\/a><\/p>— alain servais (@aservais1) July 12, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>