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Biomedical subjects

B Lozoff

Publications and source records attributed to B Lozoff.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Nutrition and behavior.

This article focuses on three nutritional problems that are associated with developmental problems in infancy and childhood. Major points are that (a) nutritional problems are often linked to environmental disadvantage, (b) the possibility exists for long-term developmental effects, (c) treatment for undernutrition does not appear to reverse all negative effects, and (d) prevention of nutritional disorders rather than treatment holds the greatest promise for eradicating behavioral and developmental problems.

Child↗
PubMed1989

Methodologic issues in studying behavioral effects of infant iron-deficiency anemia.

Methodologic challenges proving that iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) adversely affects infant behavior and development are examined. This community-based study in Costa Rica included 191 infants aged 12-23 mo with varying degrees of iron deficiency. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development were administered before and both 1 wk and 3 mo after intramuscular or oral administration of iron. Appropriate placebo-treatment control infants were also tested. Infants with IDA showed significantly lower mental and motor test scores, even after factors relating to birth, nutrition, family background, parental IQ, and the home environment were considered. The methodologic issues raised by the study point to the need to assess behavioral effects in a prospective, randomized trial of measures to prevent iron-deficiency anemia in infancy.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗
PubMed1989

Object attachment, thumbsucking, and the passage to sleep.

Cross-cultural studies suggest that children who sleep in the same room as their parents and who are breast-fed are less likely to use an attachment object. The present study examined childrearing practices that emphasize physical proximity of parent and child and use of an attachment object and thumbsucking at bedtime with 126 healthy U.S. infants. Four child-rearing practices were focused on: presence or absence of a caregiver when the child actually fell asleep; mode of feeding; location of the child's bed or sleeping place; whether or not the child slept with the parents during the night. Children who had an adult present as they fell asleep were less likely to use an attachment object or suck their thumbs. In contrast to cross-cultural research, the results of the present study suggest that where a child sleeps during the night or how the child is fed is not as important an influence on the bedtime use of an attachment object or thumbsucking as whether an adult is present as the child actually falls asleep.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed1989

Iron and learning potential in childhood.

Cognitive function. There is reasonably good evidence that mental and motor developmental test scores are lower among infants with iron deficiency anemia. Although the research on cognitive function in iron deficient older children and adults is sparse and diverse, it suggests that there may be alterations in attentional processes associated with iron deficiency. Iron therapy has not yet been shown effective in completely correcting many of the observed disturbances. Although some aspects of cognitive function seem to change with iron therapy, lower developmental. I.Q., and achievement test scores have still been noted after treatment. The behavioral effects of iron-deficiency anemia may be due to changes in neurotransmission. However, the biochemical bases are not yet completely understood. Noncognitive disturbances. A variety of noncognitive alterations during infant developmental testing has also been observed, including failure to respond to test stimuli, short attention span, unhappiness, increased fearfulness, withdrawal from the examiner, and increased body tension. Exploratory analyses suggest that such behavioral abnormalities may account for poor developmental test performance in infants with iron deficiency anemia. These studies indicate the fruitfulness of examining noncognitive aspects of behavior such as affect, attention, and activity, in addition to specific cognitive processes. Activity and work capacity: There has been a steady accumulation of evidence that iron-deficiency anemia limits maximal physical performance, submaximal endurance, and spontaneous activity in the adult, resulting in diminished work productivity with attendant economic losses. The relative importance of central and peripheral mechanisms underlying these effects, the extent to which anemia or iron deficiency separate from anemia is responsible, and the counterpart in infants and children remain to be established. This essay has examined recent evidence from research on central nervous system biochemistry and from human studies that iron deficiency adversely affects behavior by impairing cognitive function, producing noncognitive disturbances, and limiting activity and work capacity. The body of research taken as a whole provides increasingly persuasive arguments for intensifying efforts to prevent and treat iron deficiency anemia.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗
PubMed1988

Behavioral alterations in iron deficiency.

COGNITIVE FUNCTION. There is reasonably good evidence that mental and motor developmental test scores are lowered among infants with iron deficiency anemia. Although the research on cognitive function in iron-deficient older children and adults is sparse and diverse, it suggests that there may be alterations in attentional processes associated with iron deficiency. Iron therapy has not yet been shown effective in completely correcting the observed disturbances. Although some aspects of cognitive function seem to change with iron therapy, lower developmental, IQ, and achievement test scores have still been noted after treatment. The mechanisms explaining the variety of behavioral ill effects of iron-deficiency anemia in widely different age groups are still unknown. It is possible that they are due to changes in dopaminergic neurotransmission, but the biochemical bases are not yet completely understood. NONCOGNITIVE DISTURBANCES. A variety of noncognitive alterations during infant developmental testing has also been observed, including failure to respond to test stimuli, short attention span, unhappiness, increased fearfulness, withdrawal from the examiner, and increased body tension. Exploratory analyses suggest that such behavioral abnormalities may account for poor developmental test performance in infants with iron deficiency anemia. These studies indicate the fruitfulness of examining noncognitive aspects of behavior, such as affect, attention and activity, in addition to specific cognitive processes. ACTIVITY AND WORK CAPACITY. There has been a steady accumulation of evidence that iron deficiency anemia limits maximal physical performance, submaximal endurance, and spontaneous activity in the adult, resulting in diminished work productivity with attendant economic losses. The relative importance of central and peripheral mechanisms underlying these effects, the extent to which anemia or iron deficiency separate from anemia is responsible, and the counterpart in infants and children remain to be established. This review has examined recent evidence from research on central nervous system biochemistry and from human studies that iron deficiency adversely affects behavior by impairing cognitive function, producing noncognitive disturbances, and limiting activity and work capacity. The body of research taken as a whole provides increasingly persuasive arguments for intensifying efforts to prevent and treat iron deficiency anemia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Iron deficiency anemia and iron therapy effects on infant developmental test performance.

The behavioral effects of iron deficiency and its treatment were evaluated in a double-blind randomized controlled community-based study of 191 Costa Rican infants, 12 to 23 months of age, with various degrees of iron deficiency. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development were administered before and both 1 week and 3 months after IM or oral administration of iron. Appropriate placebo-treated control infants were also tested. Infants with iron deficiency anemia showed significantly lower mental and motor test scores, even after considering factors relating to birth, nutrition, family background, parental IQ, and the home environment. After 1 week, neither IM nor oral iron treatments differed from placebo treatment in effects on scores. After 3 months, lower mental and motor test scores were no longer observed among iron-deficient anemic infants whose anemia and iron deficiency were both corrected (36%). However, significantly lower mental and motor test scores persisted among the majority of initially anemic infants (64%) who had more severe or chronic iron deficiency. Although no longer anemic, they still showed biochemical evidence of iron deficiency after 3 months of treatment. These persistent lower scores suggest either that iron therapy adequate for correcting anemia is insufficient to reverse behavioral and developmental disturbances in many infants or that certain ill effects are long-lasting, depending on the timing, severity, or chronicity of iron deficiency anemia in infancy.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗
PubMed1987

Behavioral alterations in iron deficiency.

This review has examined recent evidence from human studies that iron deficiency adversely affects behavior by impairing cognitive function, producing noncognitive disturbances, and limiting activity and work capacity. The body of research taken as a whole provides increasingly persuasive arguments for intensifying efforts to prevent and treat iron deficiency anemia. Cognitive Function. There is reasonably good evidence that mental and motor developmental test scores are lowered among infants with iron deficiency anemia. Although the research on cognitive function in iron-deficient older children and adults is sparse and diverse, it suggests that there may be alterations in attentional processes associated with iron deficiency. Iron therapy has not yet been shown effective in completely correcting the observed disturbances. Although some aspects of cognitive function seem to change with iron therapy, lower developmental, IQ, and achievement test scores have still been noted after treatment. Noncognitive Disturbances. A variety of noncognitive alterations during infant developmental testing has also been observed, including failure to respond to test stimuli, short attention span, unhappiness, increased fearfulness, withdrawal from the examiner, and increased body tension. Exploratory analyses suggest that such behavioral abnormalities may account for poor developmental test performance in infants with iron deficiency anemia. These studies indicate the fruitfulness of examining noncognitive aspects of behavior, such as affect and activity, in addition to specific cognitive processes. Activity and Work Capacity. There has been a steady accumulation of evidence that iron deficiency anemia limits maximal physical performance, submaximal endurance, and spontaneous activity in the adult, resulting in diminished work productivity with attendant economic losses. The mechanisms underlying these effects, the extent to which anemia or iron deficiency separate from anemia is responsible, and the counterpart in infants and children remain to be established.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Iron-deficient anemic infants at play.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether iron-deficient anemic infants show affective and attentional disturbances during play. The behavior of 21 iron-deficient anemic and 21 nonanemic 6- to 24-month-old Guatemalan infants and their mothers was analyzed during a videotaped 8-minute free-play session. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in measures of infant irritability, distractibility, or apathy. There were differences, however, in measures of spatial relations. In 71% of the anemic infants, the duration of child-initiated body contact with their mothers was high, compared with a high level of contact in only 26% of the nonanemic babies (p = 0.01). Mothers of anemic infants spent less time at a distance from them, were less likely to break close contact, and were more likely to reestablish close contact if the baby moved away (p less than 0.03). The increase in body contact was interpreted as a reflection of fearfulness, hesitance, or inactivity. The results suggest that the specific behavioral manifestations of iron deficiency anemia in infancy may vary with the context, differing in free play and structured developmental testing.

Affect↗
PubMed1985

Abnormal behavior and low developmental test scores in iron-deficient anemic infants.

The relationship between abnormal behavior and poor developmental test performance was analyzed in 68 6- to 24-month-old Guatemalan babies with and without mild iron deficiency anemia. Regardless of age, the 10 anemic infants with abnormal affective responses during developmental testing had very low mental scores (mean = 65.7 +/- 5.2 SEM), while the 18 with normal affect had mental scores (mean = 97.1 +/- 4.5 SEM) which were normal by U.S. standards and comparable to the nonanemic group's scores. Five anemic infants with pervasive behavioral disturbance, who showed abnormal orientation to tasks in addition to disturbed affect, did poorly on the motor test (mean = 59.8 +/- 6.2 SEM). Those anemic infants who were normal in task orientation achieved motor scores similar to those of the nonanemic control group. The observed behavioral disturbances are consistent with biochemical evidence concerning the role of iron in the metabolism of central nervous system neurotransmitters which influence affect and arousal. These results suggest that poor mental developmental test performance in infants with iron deficiency anemia may be mediated by disturbances in affective behavior.

Affect↗
PubMed1985

Sleep problems seen in pediatric practice.

To determine whether sleep problems commonly seen in pediatric practice, such as conflicts at bedtime and night waking, are associated with more pervasive disturbances in the child or family, two groups of healthy children were studied. Interview data from a pilot sample were examined to identify factors that might be important in sleep problems, and then the results were validated with data from the second sample. The two samples included 96 white children between 6 months and 4 years of age. In each group, approximately 30% had a sleep problem by the criteria that night waking involving parents or bedtime struggles occurred three or more nights a week for the month preceding the interview, accompanied by conflict or distress. Five experiences distinguished children with sleep problems from those without: an accident or illness in the family, unaccustomed absence of the mother during the day, maternal depressed mood(s), sleeping in the parental bed, and maternal attitude of ambivalence toward the child. These experiences correctly classified 100% of pilot and 83% of validation sample children as having a sleep problem or not. The similarity of findings in the two samples attests to the potential importance of sleep problems as an early childhood symptom. Bedtime conflicts and night waking seem to be quantifiable, easily ascertainable behavior patterns that could alert pediatric health professionals to the existence of more pervasive disturbances in child and family.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1984

Cosleeping in urban families with young children in the United States.

The prevalence and correlates of sleeping in the parental bed among healthy children between 6 months and 4 years of age are described. One hundred fifty children were enrolled in an interview study on the basis of "well-child" care appointments in representative pediatric facilities. The sample created was similar in demographic characteristics to census data for the Cleveland area. In this cross section of families in a large US city, cosleeping was a routine and recent practice in 35% of white and 70% of black families. Cosleeping in both racial groups was associated with approaches to sleep management at bedtime that emphasized parental involvement and body contact. Specifically, cosleeping children were significantly more likely to fall asleep out of bed and to have adult company and body contact at bedtime. Among white families only, cosleeping was associated with the older child, lower level of parental education, less professional training, increased family stress, a more ambivalent maternal attitude toward the child, and disruptive sleep problems in the child.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Birth and 'bonding' in non-industrial societies.

To determine whether women giving birth in traditional societies maintained early and extended skin-to-skin contact with their neonates and nursed them immediately, descriptions of childbirth in 186 non-industrial societies were examined. Most cultures made no special effort to get mothers in body contact with infants in the minutes after birth: almost always the neonate was bathed, generally by a female birth assistant and in 54 per cent the baby was placed in a cradle or basket. Skin-to-skin contact was uncommon, since the infant was given nude to the mother in only 14 per cent of societies. However, in 98 per cent mother and baby subsequently rested together. In only 27 per cent were fathers allowed to be present during childbirth. Few cultures permitted immediate postpartum nursing, and the first breast-feeding was delayed 24 hours or more in 52 per cent. On anthropological ratings, there was no increase in maternal affection in societies which fostered mother-infant body contact, in paternal involvement when fathers were allowed at childbirth, or in breast-feeding duration in those which permitted early nursing.

Age Factors↗