Childhood diet

Alzheimer’s dementia is the most widespread dementia in the United States. This study looked at childhood nutrition and risk for Alzheimer’s disease later in life. In the study of 3,733 men and women aged 71 to 93, those whose growth was stunted from malnutrition during childhood were more likely to experience memory loss, concentration problems and other symptoms of cognitive decline in adulthood.

Growing evidence suggests that structural and functional brain reserves, thought to develop in childhood and adolescence, may be crucial in determining when cognitive impairment begins. According to lead researcher Robert Abbott: “There is a whole constellation of diseases out there that occur in later years, which are associated with how children are treated early in life.”

Source: Pediatrics 1998;102:602-609.
Medical Tribune: Internist and Cardiologist Edition 1998;39(17):20.