MONDAY, Nov. 22, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- Children who are malnourished in their first few years of life are more likely to be aggressive and antisocial throughout childhood and into their late teens, says a University of Southern California study.
The 14-year study tracked more than 1,000 children on Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. The children were ethnic Indian, Creole, Chinese, English and French. Researchers assessed the children's nutrition at age 3.
The researchers found that malnourished children showed 41 percent greater aggression at age 8 than properly nourished children, 10 percent greater aggression and delinquency at age 11, and 51 percent greater violent and antisocial behavior at age 17.
"Poor nutrition, characterized by zinc, iron, vitamin B and protein deficiencies, leads to low IQ, which leads to later antisocial behavior. These are all nutrients linked to brain development," study co-author and psychology professor Adrian Raine said in a prepared statement.
The study appears in the November issue of the American Journal of Pyschiatry.
"These are the first findings to show that malnutrition in the early postnatal years is associated with behavior problems through age 17," study author Jianghong Liu, a postdoctoral fellow with USC's Social Science Research Institute, said in a prepared statement.
"Identifying the early risk factors for this behavior in childhood and adolescence is an important first step for developing successful prevention programs for adult violence," she said.
More information
The American Medical Association has advice about nutrition for young children.
