A Consultant Paediatric Haematologist and Oncologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Professor Edamisan Temiye, says children not fed food that supports their rapidly growing bodies and brains stand the risk of malnutrition and low intelligence quotient. He said although low IQ in children is genetically determined; malnutrition has also been identified as a contributory factor to why some children have low IQ and fail to do well academically. Temiye noted that 70 per cent of the brain development of babies starts from the womb, disclosing that the foundation for a healthy life and well-being is laid in the mother’s womb.
Experts say intellectual capacity (measured as intelligence quotient or IQ) is said to be one of the determinants of poor school performance in children. Academic achievement influences future personal health and is, therefore, of significant public health concern. According to them, good education has been linked to better jobs, higher income, and higher socio-economic status; while poor school performance with its attendant risk of school dropout results in future income reductions and thereby, perpetuates the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
He noted that the nutritional and health status of women before and during pregnancy plays a crucial role in having babies not at risk of malnutrition, stressing that adequate nutrition in pregnancy contributes to optimal foetal growth and better outcomes in childbirth. The United Nations Children’s Fund, says in Nigeria, malnutrition remains a major public health and development concern. Already, Nigeria has an alarming rate of child malnutrition with 12 million out of the 35 million under-five children in the country stunted due to malnutrition, according to UNICEF. It states that 49 per cent of children under five years of age are not growing well (they are either stunted, wasted, or overweight). “This is the second highest proportion after the Democratic Republic of Congo in the West and Central Africa region. This is partly because 34 per cent of children between six months and two years of age are fed food that is not rich and diversified enough to ensure optimal growth”, UNICEF declares.
It, therefore, called for increased funding and other measures that could help in arresting the challenge urgently. Temiye also said nutrition is crucial and most significant for a child’s bright future brain development, He said, “The first 1000 days of a child’s life, which is from conception to two years, during that period 99 per cent of the child’s brain volume had been developed. “So, if anything happens during that period to affect that development, it will affect the intelligence of that child. “If the child does not have the requisite nutrition for the brain to grow maximally at that period, not just physical growth, that growth affects the brain and it is permanent. Now, by the time two years pass, the child has lost it.”
The don also said a healthy environment also promotes the proper development of babies, cautioning that parents not allowing their children to explore their environment would make them have low IQs.” Then, if you don’t expose the child to the environment to learn, you know that children are naturally inquisitive to learn, they want to know this, they want to touch this, if you don’t guide them to learn through that phase, it will affect the child’s growth. “If you don’t allow a child to explore his environment, it will affect the child’s growth. A child should be allowed to explore his environment under guidance.
“So, if the physical environment is too violent, the child will not grow appropriately”, the child health expert said. Temiye said if adequate nutrients were not provided for a child’s brain to grow, the child’s IQ would not develop. He noted, “A child specifically may be born to be a high-level intelligent person that will be in the high five per cent of the society, if that child’s environment walks against him, he may eventually grow up to be in the lowest five per cent of the society, a dullard.”
Researchers in an article published in Industrial Psychiatry Journal said a child’s intelligence quotient is determined by both genetic and environmental factors that start from the prenatal period itself. In an article titled, ‘Effect of environmental factors on intelligence quotient of children’, the authors noted that various environmental factors such as place of residence, physical exercise, family income, and parents’ occupation and education influence the IQ of a child to a great extent. They said a child must be provided with an optimal environment to be able to develop to his/her full genetic potential.
Similarly, in a study published in PubMed Central titled, ‘The role of nutrition in children’s neurocognitive development, from pregnancy through childhood’, the authors said cognitive development was influenced by many factors, including nutrition. According to them, there is an increasing body of literature that suggests a connection between improved nutrition and optimal brain function.
The authors said, “Nutrients provide building blocks that play a critical role in cell proliferation, DNA synthesis, neurotransmitter, and hormone metabolism and are important constituents of enzyme systems in the brain. “Malnourished children have less energy and interest for learning negatively influences cognitive development “Malnutrition can develop in utero when the mother is malnourished (as often happens in low-income countries). “Even mild but persistent malnutrition in early life during the first two years of life negatively influences reasoning, visuospatial functions, IQ, language development, attention, learning, and academic achievement.
