Micronutrients, omega-3 fatty acids and cognitive performance in Indian schoolchildren

In developing countries, approximately 30-40% of school-age children suffer from iodine and iron deficiencies. Poverty and consumption of monotonous diets are underlying causes of inadequate intakes of micronutrients and omega-3 fatty acids and may have severe consequences for children’s cognitive development. Multiple micronutrient interventions have shown to benefit mental performance of children, but a systematic evaluation of the evidence is currently lacking. The omega-3 fatty acid, -linolenic acid (ALA) is converted into docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a major structural component of the brain, which is important for normal development and maintenance of brain function. At present, it is unclear whether additional intake of omega-3 fatty acids improves cognitive performance in children. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the role of multiple micronutrients and omega-3 fatty acids on cognitive performance in school-age children living in deprived environments, thereby addressing three main research questions. The first query concerned the investigation of the size of effects of multiple micronutrient interventions on different cognitive domains. Findings of our meta-analysis comprising 17 studies in children 5-16 years of age, suggested that multiple micronutrients were beneficial for fluid intelligence (i.e. reasoning abilities) (0.14 SD; 95% CI: -0.02, 0.29) and academic performance (0.30 SD; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.58). Crystallized intelligence (i.e. acquired knowledge) seemed not affected (-0.03 SD; 95% CI: -0.21, 0.15) and for the other cognitive domains data were too limited to draw firm conclusions. Secondly, we examined the role of omega-3 fatty acids on children’s cognitive development, for which a literature review was conducted. Associations between omega-3 fatty acid status or dietary intake and cognitive performance were investigated by cross-sectional analysis using baseline data of a randomized controlled trial in 598 Indian schoolchildren (see below for details). We found no evidence for a beneficial effect of additional intake of omega-3 fatty acids, and of DHA in particular, on cognitive development in school-age children. Neither there was a significant relationship between omega-3 fatty acid status and cognitive performance. Lastly, we studied the effect of different doses of micronutrients and omega-3 fatty acids, and their interaction, on cognitive performance. For that purpose, a randomized controlled trial in 598 Indian schoolchildren aged 6-10 years was conducted from November 2005 until March 2007. Children received either 15% or 100% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance of micronutrients in combination with either a low (140 mg ALA) or high dose (900 mg ALA plus 100 mg DHA) of omega-3 fatty acids for 12 months. Cognitive function was measured at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Our results showed that with some small differential effects on short term memory at 6 months (0.11 SD; 95% CI: 0.01-0.20) and fluid intelligence at 6 months (-0.10 SD; 95% CI: -0.17, -0.03) and 12 months (-0.12 SD; 95% CI: -0.20, -0.04), the high and low dose of micronutrients were as effective for improving retrieval ability, cognitive speediness and overall cognitive performance. Neither there were differences between the omega-3 fatty acid treatments, nor an interaction between micronutrients and omega-3 fatty acids on cognitive outcomes. In conclusion, although multiple micronutrients may benefit intellectual performance of schoolchildren, development of public health guidelines is currently premature. Further investigation on doses and composition of micronutrients would be needed to identify a cost-effective micronutrient supplement to optimize cognitive performance in children. Presently, no evidence exists for a positive effect of omega-3 fatty acids on cognitive performance in healthy children. A final trial using a higher dose and sufficiently long duration would be needed to conclude whether omega-3 fatty acid supplementation improves mental development at school age

Type 1 diabetes in youth::A psychosocial challenge

Snoek, F.J. [Promotor]Rotteveel, J. [Copromotor]Wit, M. de [Copromotor

Open en gastvrij : een onderzoek naar het missionaire karakter van de zondagse samenkomsten in de Vrije Evangelisatie Zwolle

Masterthesis Missiologi

Changes in face-specific neural processes explain reduced cuteness and approachability of infants with cleft lip

The current study investigated whether changes in the neural processing of faces of infants with a facial abnormality – a cleft lip – mediate effects of the cleft lip on judgments of infant cuteness and approachability. Event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to pictures of faces of healthy infants and infants with a cleft lip, and ratings of cuteness and approachability of these infant faces, were obtained from 30 females. Infants with a cleft lip were rated as less attractive (less cute and approachable) than healthy infants, and both the N170 and P2 components of the ERP were of reduced amplitude in response to pictures of infants with a cleft lip. Importantly, decreased configural processing of infant faces with a cleft lip, as evidenced by reduced N170 amplitudes, mediated the reduced attractiveness ratings for infants with a cleft lip compared to healthy infants. Our findings help elucidate the mechanisms behind the less favorable responses to infants with a cleft lip, highlighting the role of face-specific rather than domain-general neural processes

Do agronomic approaches aligned to regenerative agriculture improve the micronutrient concentrations of edible portions of crops? A scoping review of evidence

Regenerative Agriculture (RA) is used to describe nature-based agronomic approaches that aim to build soil health and crop resilience, minimize negative environmental outcomes, and improve farmer livelihoods. A benefit that is increasingly attributed to crops grown under RA practices is improved nutritional content. However, we do not know the extent to which RA influences crop nutritional quality and under what management approaches and context, can such effects be realized. A scoping review of recent literature (Web of Science, 2000-2021) was carried out to assess the evidence that RA approaches improve crop micronutrient quality. Papers included combinations of agronomic approaches that could be defined as Regenerative: "Organic Inputs" including composts and manures, cover crops, crop rotations, crop residues and biochars; "Reduced Tillage", "Intercropping", "Biostimulants" e.g. arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; plant growth promoting bacteria, and "Irrigation", typically deficit-irrigation and alternate wetting and drying. The crop types reviewed were predetermined covering common sources of food and included: Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), Rice (Oryza sativa L.), Maize (Zea mays L.), Pulses (Fabaceae), Alliums (Allium spp.), and "other" crop types (30 types). This scoping review supports a potential role for RA approaches in increasing the concentrations of micronutrients in the edible portions of several crop types under specific practices, although this was context specific. For example, rice grown under increased organic inputs showed significant increases in grain zinc (Zn) concentration in 15 out of 16 studies. The vitamin C concentration of tomato fruit increased in similar to 50% of studies when plants were grown under increased organic inputs, and in 76% of studies when plants were grown under deficit irrigation. Overall, the magnitude and reproducibility of the effects of RA practices on most crop nutritional profiles were difficult to assess due to the diversity of RA approaches, geographical conditions, and the limited number of studies for most crops in each of these categories. Future research with appropriate designs, improved on-farm surveillance and nutritional diagnostics are needed for better understanding the potential role of RA in improving the quality of food, human nutrition, and health

A globally applicable framework for compound flood hazard modeling

Coastal river deltas are susceptible to flooding from pluvial, fluvial, and coastal flood drivers. Compound floods, which result from the co-occurrence of two or more of these drivers, typically exacerbate impacts compared to floods from a single driver. While several global flood models have been developed, these do not account for compound flooding. Local-scale compound flood models provide state-of-the-art analyses but are hard to scale to other regions as these typically are based on local datasets. Hence, there is a need for globally applicable compound flood hazard modeling. We develop, validate, and apply a framework for compound flood hazard modeling that accounts for interactions between all drivers. It consists of the high-resolution 2D hydrodynamic Super-Fast INundation of CoastS (SFINCS) model, which is automatically set up from global datasets and coupled with a global hydrodynamic river routing model and a global surge and tide model. To test the framework, we simulate two historical compound flood events, Tropical Cyclone Idai and Tropical Cyclone Eloise in the Sofala province of Mozambique, and compare the simulated flood extents to satellite-derived extents on multiple days for both events. Compared to the global CaMa-Flood model, the globally applicable model generally performs better in terms of the critical success index (−0.01–0.09) and hit rate (0.11–0.22) but worse in terms of the false-alarm ratio (0.04–0.14). Furthermore, the simulated flood depth maps are more realistic due to better floodplain connectivity and provide a more comprehensive picture as direct coastal flooding and pluvial flooding are simulated. Using the new framework, we determine the dominant flood drivers and transition zones between flood drivers. These vary significantly between both events because of differences in the magnitude of and time lag between the flood drivers. We argue that a wide range of plausible events should be investigated to obtain a robust understanding of compound flood interactions, which is important to understand for flood adaptation, preparedness, and response. As the model setup and coupling is automated, reproducible, and globally applicable, the presented framework is a promising step forward towards large-scale compound flood hazard modeling.</p