The Issue: Children who have been physically, emotionally, or psychologically neglected and who have suffered from poor nutrition usually have very poor outcomes as teens and young adults. They may have what is termed, “failure to thrive”, or growth retardation, meaning that they don’t grow or put on weight the way they should. They may not be as intelligent as other children their age and are often unhappy and difficult to soothe. Children who have suffered from malnutrition often are also aggressive, show attention problems, and have poor social relationships as they enter school.

The Research: The children taking part in the study had originally been assigned to one of four groups when they were aged 9 to 24 months. Because of their social circumstances, they were described as small for their age.  One group received supplemental feedings only, another group received psychosocial stimulation by mother who was taught to play with her child, to use praise and positive discipline techniques and not to use corporal punishment.  A third group of children received a combination of both interventions. The fourth group, the the Control group, received no intervention.

The Results: This is a follow-up study to a randomized controlled trial conducted with infants and toddlers in Jamaica in 1986-87. 103 of  the original 129 children who entered the study were tested at 7 and 11 years of age to see how well they had developed psychologically and emotionally over the longer term.

Children who received psychosocial stimulation either alone or in combination with supplemental feedings were much less likely to be depressed, anxious, or to have attention problems, and had better self esteem compared to children who did not receive stimulation. Nutritional supplementation alone did not seem to have any long-term effects. For example, children who received only supplemental feeding showed some improvements when tested at age 7 but these had disappeared by age 11.

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The preceding is a summary of: Walker SP, Change SM, Powell CA, Simonoff E. Grantham-McGregor SM. Effects of psychosocial stimulation and dietary supplementation in early childhood on psychosocial functioning in late adolescence: follow-up of randomised controlled trial. BMJ, doi:10.1136/bmj.38897.5555208.2F (published 28 July 2006)