Project Number: 6251-51000-004-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: May 01, 2004
End Date: Apr 30, 2009

Objective:
Determine the effects of diet and nutritional status on psychological and psychoneurophysiological development and other brain-related functions of infants, toddlers, and school-aged children. The overall goal of these studies is to: 1) determine how diet and nutrition affect central nervous system development as measured by non-invasive tools (i.e., psychological testing, multi-channel recording of evoked potentials and fMRI) that can assess brain function and can predict such important areas as language acquisition, learning abilities, cognition, attention, and other behaviors; and 2) determine perceived barriers and facilitators to adhering to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) food choice and physical activity recommendations.

Approach:
Children (infants, toddlers, and school-aged youths) will be studied using a variety of well established and safe assessment tools to determine various central nervous system (CNS) functions. Several psychological and psychoneurophysiological tests have been developed specially for infants (starting at age one day) and children. These will be used to study the effects of diet and nutritional status on brain development and function. The short-term and long-term effects of breast feeding and/or formula on growth, body composition, development, and nutritional status will be studied. Nutritional status assessments, anthropometric measurements, urine and blood analysis, and measures of psychological, neuropsychological and cognitive measures will be obtained and analyzed. The effects of diet (i.e., breast milk, milk-based and soy-based formula, school breakfast, and school lunch) on these measures will be studied. Survey instruments will be validated for use with children and their caregivers to determine perceived barriers and facilitators to adhering to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) food choice and physical activity recommendations.