ABSTRACT
While the literature provides evidence that the negative effects of early malnutrition persist to school-age (Pollitt et al., 1996), there are several significant knowledge gaps. First, despite evidence that the impact of nutrition varies across different neurocognitive domains, there have been few studies investigating this area, especially in middle childhood. And yet at school age, children are exposed to more differential experiences and acquire more sophisticated abilities across various cognitive domains (Fischer and Bullock, 1984). Second, there is a complex inter-related relationship between poverty, nutritional status and neurocognitive outcomes.
Not only do the constraints of low income in deprived settings create practical barriers to good nutrition; additional socio-environmental factors reinforce the effects of this deprivation (Engle and Black, 2008). Poor nutritional status at this age may have long-term negative consequences and restrict development of a child's full potential. This is therefore a critical period for investigating the link between malnutrition and developmental outcomes, especially within a multiple risk context.
