Developmental Impact of Nutrition on Pregnancy, Infancy, and Childhood: Public Health Issues in the United States

There is no scientific reason to believe, using behavior and cognitive function as referent criteria, that additives, sugar, and caffeine represent public health problems for the pediatric population in the United States; this needs further research.

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of two major categories of research on nutrition and behavioral development; one that relates to the effects of different forms of undernutrition prevalent in the United States, while the other refers to the effects of a few selected constituents in the daily diet of American children. The studies on growth retardation and mental development are strictly correlational. Research on the effects of nutrition supplementation provides a stronger basis than the correlational studies as a source from which to draw inferential statements. Among infants and children in the low-income groups in the United States, growth faltering is generally associated with a qualitatively and quantitatively poor diet. At present, there is no scientific reason to believe, using behavior and cognitive function as referent criteria, that additives, sugar, and caffeine represent public health problems for the pediatric population in the United States; this needs further research.