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How does nutrition affect the developing brain?
Key Takeaways
- Brain development is most sensitive to a baby’s nutrition between mid-gestation to two years of age
- Inadequate brain growth explains why children who were malnourished as fetuses and infants suffer lasting behavioral and cognitive deficits, including slower language and fine motor development, lower IQ, and poorer school performance.
- Pregnant women should gain about 20 percent of their ideal pre-pregnancy weight (e.g., 26 pounds for a 130-lb woman) to ensure adequate fetal growth.
- Because of the rapid pace of myelination in early life, children need a high level of fat in their diets–some 50 percent of their total calories–until about two years of age.
Brain development is most sensitive to a baby’s nutrition between mid-gestation and two years of age.
Nutrition plays a pivotal role in brain growth, especially from mid-gestation to two years of age. During this critical period, inadequate nutrition can lead to reduced brain size due to diminished dendritic growth, myelination, and glial cell production. Consequently, malnourished children may experience lasting cognitive and behavioral deficits, including delayed language and fine motor skills, lower IQ, and poorer academic performance.
Maternal Nutrition and Fetal Brain Growth
A baby’s birth weight and brain size are significantly influenced by the mother’s nutrition during pregnancy. To support adequate fetal brain growth, pregnant women should aim to gain about 20% of their ideal pre-pregnancy weight (e.g., 26 pounds for a 130-pound woman). This typically involves consuming an additional 300 calories per day, including 10-12 extra grams of protein.
Postnatal Nutrition: Supporting Ongoing Brain Development
After birth, continued brain growth relies heavily on proper nutrition. Breast milk provides an optimal mix of nutrients essential for brain development. However, since breast milk may lack sufficient iron after six months, introducing iron-rich foods or supplements is crucial to prevent iron deficiency, which has been linked to cognitive impairments. For formula-fed infants, selecting iron-fortified formulas is recommended.
The Importance of Dietary Fats in Early Brain Growth
Myelination is the process by which nerve fibers are coated with myelin, a fatty substance that insulates and protects neurons, allowing electrical signals to travel quickly and efficiently between brain cells. This process is crucial for cognitive and motor development, particularly in the first two years of life when brain growth is most rapid.
To support healthy myelination, young children require a diet high in fats—making up approximately 50% of their total caloric intake—until about age two. This high-fat intake ensures the proper formation of myelin, which enhances neural communication, supporting learning, memory, and overall brain function.
