Feeding the brain—The effects of micronutrient interventions on cognitive performance among school-aged children: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials
Abstract
Background & aims Micronutrients are essential for brain development with deficiencies in specific nutrients linked to impaired cognitive function. Interventions are shown to be beneficial to children's mental development, particularly in subjects who were micronutrient-deficient at baseline but results on healthy subjects remain inconsistent. This systematic review evaluated the effect of micronutrient inventions on different cognitive domains. Studies conducted in both developing and developed countries, and trials that investigate the effect of both single and multiple micronutrient intervention were reviewed.Methods Systematic searches of Medline, CINAHL Plus and Academic Search database were undertaken to identify trials published after year 2000. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluate the effect of micronutrients on cognitive performance or academic performance among children aged 4-18 years were included.Results 19 trials were identified from 18 articles. The major cognitive outcomes assessed included fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, short-term memory, long-term memory, cognitive processing speed, attention and concentration, and school performance. Eight of ten trials assessing fluid intelligence reported significant positive effects of micronutrient supplementation among micronutrient-deficient children, especially those who were iron-deficient or iodine-deficient at baseline. The effects of micronutrient interventions on other domains were inconsistent.Conclusion Improvement in fluid intelligence among micronutrient-deficient children was consistently reported. Further research is needed to provide more definite evidence on the beneficial effects of micronutrient inventions on other cognitive domains and the effects in healthy subjects.
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Published systematic reviews or meta-analyses in the area most often confirmed favorable effects for micronutrient interventions.
“Published in the last few years, they most often confirmed favorable effects for micronutrient interventions.”
From Vitamins and Minerals for Energy, Fatigue and Cognition: A Narrative Review of the Biochemical and Clinical Evidence (2020) · cites this paper as [215]
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“Regarded as a measure of general intelligence and as a fairly pure measure of fluid reasoning [34], Raven’s Progressive Matrices have been extensively used in research [35], including in relation to children’s iodine status [7,36,37].”
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“Lam and Lawlis[17] presented an extensive meta-analysis, which proves that micronutrients are very essential for brain development.”
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CHILDREN’S NUTRITION IMPACT ON COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
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“Researchers from multiple studies have documented the significant improvement of fluid intelligence after improved nutrition and micronutrient supplementation [40,41].”
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“Studies have shown associations of maternal diet during pregnancy [4, 5], breastfeeding practices [6] and single nutrients [7], with brain and cognitive development, suggesting that, since early life stages, adequate intake of key nutrients may have lasting effects on the brain.”
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“Deficiencies in these nutrients are widely associated with impaired cognitive performance, especially during childhood and adolescence, when the brain is undergoing rapid development [23].”
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“Micronutrient deficiencies are widespread in both developing and developed countries.(32) Neurotransmitters are primarily synthesised in the brain from amino acids, vitamins and micronutrients.”
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“Interventions have been shown to be beneficial for children's mental development, particularly in subjects who were deficient in micronutrients, and it is accepted that supplementation significantly improves neurodevelopment and intelligence (16).”
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“This is in line with the research of Lam & Lawlis (2017) which states that increasing urine iodine levels is proven to improve the cognitive function of fluid intelligence related to solving logical and non-verbal problems, crystallized intelligence which functions for skill abilities and the use…”
BackgroundResultA INFLUÊNCIA DO ESTADO NUTRICIONALNO PROCESSO DE ENSINO APRENDIZAGEM
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Brain Nutrition: Development, Function, and Dietary Impact
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“These mechanisms have prompted extensive investigation into the role of individual micronutrients in cognitive development, leading to a substantial body of evidence on their potential benefits (11,18 – 20) .”
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- Authors
- Lam, L. F., & Lawlis, T. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Canberra (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Lam, Long Fung
- Lawlis, Tanya R.
- ORCID
- Lawlis, Tanya R.
- Venue
- Clinical Nutrition
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-08
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1007-1014
- ISSN
- 0261-5614 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2467146467
- Cited by
- 91
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 7
- FWCI
- 0.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Clinical Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Canberra Research Portal (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Child Nutrition and Water Access
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Hematology › Iron Metabolism and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Trace Elements in Health
- Keywords
- micronutrient supplementation, cognitive performance, school-aged children, fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, short-term memory, long-term memory, processing speed, attention and concentration, academic performance, iron deficiency, iodine deficiency, micronutrient deficiency
- MeSH terms
- Academic Performance, Adolescent, Child, Child Development, Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Child, Preschool, Cognition Disorders, Deficiency Diseases, Humans, Intelligence, Memory Disorders, Global Health, Reproducibility of Results, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Micronutrients, Dietary Supplements, Adolescent Development, Neurogenesis
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