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Biomedical subjects

E Pollitt

Publications and source records attributed to E Pollitt.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

The relation of growth to cognition in a well-nourished preschool population.

This paper focuses on the nature of the physical growth-behavioral development association in well-nourished as compared with undernourished populations. Multiple regression analyses were calculated to determine the magnitude of IQ variance accounted for by physical growth variables and socioeconomic status indicators in a group of 3- to 6-year-old children from Cambridge, Massachusetts. The prevalence of malnutrition within this sample was negligible. Weight-for-height percentile was the only physical growth measure that explained a significant portion of the IQ variance. This finding contrasts with what is found in undernourished populations where height is generally the most potent explanatory variable of mental test score variance. In undernourished populations height is a reflection of nutritional history; in well-nourished populations weight-for-height is an indicator of physiological maturation.

Body Height↗
PubMed1981

Changes in nutritive sucking during a feed in two-day-and thirty-day-old infants.

Twenty-four infants were given a standard formula at 2 days and 1 month of life. The amount consumed, the feeding time, and the sucking amplitude were examined in 1-min trials. The data indicate that while the volume of intake did not change the feeding time decreased over the first month. Moreover, while sucking time and amplitude were independent of each other at the initiation of a feed at two days, they were correlated when the feed began at 30 days of age. It is, therefore, concluded that nutritive sucking efficiency changes and improves in the first month of life. Finally, a comparative analysis of the bottle feeding data from this study and data from two other published studies on breast feeding suggest the emergence of a regulatory mechanism that modulates the pattern of intake.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1981

The Bacon Chow study: maternal nutrition supplementation and birth weight of offspring.

This study is a randomized controlled double-blind trial on the effects of nutrition supplement of pregnant and lactating women on their offspring. The study was conducted by the late Dr. Bacon Chow in 14 villages in Sui-Lin township, a farming area about 180 miles from Taipei, Taiwan. Two hundred ninety-four women were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. The daily supplement for one group provided 800 kcal and 40 g of protein/day; for the other group it only provided 80 kcal/day. Supplementation began after 3 wk of the delivery of a first study infant, continued throughout lactation, and through the pregnancy and lactation of a second study infant. Between group comparisons on the birth weight, number of low birth weight infants, or incidence of fetal deaths showed no statistically significant findings. However, the birth weight of the second study infant was statistically different and higher than that of the first study infant in the high supplement group. Moreover, in the low supplement group there was a correlation of 0.22 (p = 0.06) between the change scores for birth weight from the first to the second study infant and the quantity of supplements consumed during the last trimester of pregnancy. There was also in this same group a significant slope in a linear regression of birth weight on total daily caloric intake during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy for the male second study infants. These findings are partly in agreement with findings from three other large supplementation studies in Colombia, Guatemala, and New York. In this study the findings indicate that caloric supplementation does result in a small yet statistically meaningful increment in birth weight within a population which is not nutritionally at risk.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1981

Brief fasting, stress, and cognition in children.

Effects of skipping breakfast on speed and accuracy of response in a number of problem solving tasks were assessed in 9- to 11-yr-old, well-nourished children. The conceptual framework for this study was derived from an experimental model of the effects of mild environmental stress, e.g., noise, on human performance. Plasma glucose, beta-hydroxybutyrate, lactate, and free fatty acids were used as indicators of the induced metabolic stress, and the extent of their association with the behavioral measures was determined. Fasting had an adverse effect on the accuracy of responses in problem solving, but it had a beneficial effect on immediate recall in short-term memory. Both effects are explained by a heightened arousal level associated with the brief experimental fast.

3-Hydroxybutyric Acid↗
PubMed1981

Mother-infant feeding interaction and weight gain in the first month of life.

This study tests the hypothesis that maternal and infant behaviors during a feed at one month of life co-varies with the infant's weight gain in the 30 days since birth. Thirty mothers-infant pairs were observed via videotape. Each of the tapes was analyzed, with a behavioral coding system adapted for this purpose. A stepwise regression statistical model showed that a statistically significant portion of the weight gain variance was explained by nutritionally functional and social communication behaviors in the mother and social communication behaviors in the infant. These data suggest that a lack of synchrony between the caretaker and the infant during feeding may imperil the infant's growth process.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1981

Child poverty in South America: reflections on its magnitude, and the basic-need developmental approach. A retrospect on the International Year of the Child.

Extreme economic poverty in children with its adverse consequences on their mental and physical growth is becoming an increasing concern of governments in South America. There is now a search for effective intervention strategies to alleviate these problems as they are also a bottleneck for national development. Some of these programs are likely to be defined as fitting within the general theoretical framework of the basic-need approach to development. This paper postulates that intervention programs (e.g., nutrition, health and education) directed to economically deprived children will not be successful and are not representative of the basic-needs approach unless they also attend to the broader economic and social needs of families and communities. Although child-directed programs have proven to be moderately successful they do not eliminate the mental and physical growth differences between children determined by economic inequality.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Early mother--infant interaction and somatic growth.

This study tests the proposition that selected behaviors of both mother and infant during feeding are predictors of weight gain during the 1st mth of life. 40 normal mother--neonate pairs were studied, and the target behaviors were examined using an adaptation of the techniques developed by Brown and Bakeman [18]. Aggregate scores of 4 specific maternal and infant behaviors accounted for over 32% of the variance in total weight gain. These findings indicate that the availability of nutrients is not, in itself, a sufficient condition to meet the infant's nutritional needs. Implicit in these findings are the possibilities that infants at risk of failure-to-thrive can be identified, and measures to prevent this syndrome can be introduced.

Anesthesia, Obstetrical↗
PubMed1978

Educational benefits of the United States school feeding program: a critical review of the literature.

In the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 it was stated that educational progress was an objective of the United States School Feeding programs. In spite of this fact no serious attempt has ever been made to evaluate whether this objective has been met; the few evaluations that have been conducted lack scientific rigor. As a whole the studies fail to provide a strong basis from which to make valid inferences regarding the long-term effects of the feeding program on school achievement and adaptation. Studies that have focused on the short-term effects of hunger or morning feeding suggest that the provision of breakfast may both benefit the student emotionally and enhance his capacity to work on school type tasks.

Achievement↗
PubMed1976

Behavioral disturbances among failure-to-thrive children.

The eating, sleeping, elimination, autoerotic and self-harming behavior of 19 preschool failure-to-thrive children was studied. Their behavior was compared to a group of 19 children growing normally for their chronological age. Information was obtained by repeated home visits by public health nurses. The growth-retarded children had more feeding difficulties as infants, had skimpier, less regular meals, and had poorer response to food when rated on a five-point scale. Their daily caloric intake was lower. There was no substantial differences between groups for sleeping, elimination, autoerotic, and self-harming behaviors when each area was separately analyzed. However, when all the disturbances were summed, there was clear evidence that the failure-to-thrive children had a noticeably greater number of abnormalities than the control group.

Child Behavior Disorders↗
PubMed1976

Iron deficiency and behavior.

The literature bearing on the behavioral correlates of sideropenia in animals and man is reviewed. There is evidence to support the contention that sideropenia, per se, is causally related to the subjective complaints of the iron-deficient and/or anemic individual. And, although important biochemical pathways involving electron transport, catecholamine catabolism, and porphyrin synthesis have been shown to be deranged in iron-deficient animals and human beings, the role of these alterations in any putative behavioral aberration is conjectural at present. Given the high prevalence of iron deficiency in the world's population, these issues should be addressed by appropriate biochemical and psychologic studies in animals and human beings.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Failure to thrive: socioeconomic, dietary intake and mother-child interaction data.

This is a report on the socioeconomic background, dietary intake, and mother-child interaction of children who are on or below the third percentile curve and a contrast group on or above the 25th percentile curve for height and weight of the Boston Growth Standards. Gross family income did not differentiate between groups at a statistically significant level; however, the taller and heavier children came from families of higher socioeconomic standing as indicated by the significant differences in the scores of both groups on a socioeconomic index comprised of per capita income, maternal education, presence of a male in the household, and household density. Also in comparison to the underweight and undersized children, the contrast group exhibited higher calories, protein, iron, niacin, and ascorbic acid intake and was more likely to have more frequent and more positive contact with the mothers.

Anthropometry↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Fasting and cognitive function.

The effects of short-term fasting (skipping breakfast) on the problem-solving performance of 9 to 11 yr old children were studied under the controlled conditions of a metabolic ward. The behavioral test battery included an assessment of IQ, the Matching Familiar Figure Test and Hagen Central Incidental Test. Glucose and insulin levels were measured in blood. All assessments were made under fasting and non-fasting conditions. Skipping breakfast was found to have adverse effects on the children's late morning problem-solving performance. These findings support observations that the timing and nutrient composition of meals have acute and demonstrable effects on behavior.

Blood Glucose↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The effects of deworming on indicators of school performance in Guatemala.

Intestinal helminths are among the most common infections in school-age children. Of 246 children, aged 7-12 years, attending school in rural Guatemala, 91% carried Ascaris lumbricoides and 82% carried Trichuris trichiura. These children were randomly assigned to receive either albendazole or placebo at 0 and 12 weeks in a 'double-blind' study of the effects of deworming on indicators of school performance. Albendazole successfully rid the children of Ascaris but it was less effective against Trichuris. The children's performance in tests of reading and vocabulary were measured at 0 and 24 weeks, the Peabody picture vocabulary test was given at 24 weeks, and attendance was measured throughout the school year. Comparison of the treated and placebo groups showed no positive effect of deworming. The treated children were largely free of Ascaris for at least 6 months, but during that period we could not detect any improvement in reading, vocabulary, or attendance. The effects of being Trichuris-free were not examined because of the limited effectiveness of albendazole against this worm at the dosage used.

Albendazole↗