Nutrition as a factor for children’s brain and cognitive development

Increasing prevalence of children's cognitive impairment is becoming a significant public health problem with individual and socioeconomic consequences. Modifiable factors, among which nutrition plays a central role, along with an increase in life expectancy and environmental changes are probably the largest contributors. Individual dietary components, including carbohydrates, lipids, and hormonal regulators of energy metabolism, have been reported to be associated with cognitive function scores. Like any other organ, the brain depends on a continuous supply of critical nutrients from the food — vitamins, minerals, plant- and animal-sourced amino acids, and polyunsaturated essential fatty acids, including omega-3. The idea that diet is not able to modify the brain structure and ultimately its function are currently being re-evaluated: some micronutrients have been studied for its effects on neurohumoral processes and cognitive outcomes. The human gut microbiota, a community of symbiotic microbes, plays a crucial role in the maturation and functioning of brain systems by interacting with the central nervous system through bidirectional neural, endocrine, immune, and metabolic axes. Recent neurobiological studies demonstrate the correlation between dysbiosis changes in the microbiota and its metabolites and a wide range of neuropsychiatric conditions, including autism spectrum disorders, anxiety and depressive symptomatology, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and neurocognitive deficits. The “critical window” of the first 1000 days of life from conception to a child’s second birthday, when the neurogenesis, myelination, and cognitive development sensitive to nutritional deficiencies and excesses occur especially intensively, acquires particular prominence. In this period, provision of adequate macronutrient and micronutrient intake during pregnancy and lactation, the quality of breastfeeding, and the timely and scientific-based introduction of complementary feeding become crucial factors shaping the long-term trajectories of brain development, metabolic health, and behavioural phenotypes.

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