Navigation
Diet in early life Is related to child mental health and personality at 8 years: Findings from the Norwegian mother, father and child Cohort Study (MoBa)
Concern over community mental health is growing. Characteristics of personality and mental wellness emerge during early growth, which is fundamentally dependent on adequate nourishment. However, little is known about how nutrition during infancy affects mental health later in life. In this study by Vejrup et al. (2023), the authors look into the relationships between psychological characteristics and potential signs of depression and anxiety assessed at the age of 8 in relation to exposure to healthy and sustainable prenatal and early childhood nutrition. The Medical Birth Registry of Norway (MBRN), which contains information on 40,566 individuals, provided the data for this research, which is based on the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort (MoBa). At the age of 8, personality characteristics and markers of mental wellness were evaluated. Dietary statistics from pregnant women, kids aged 6 and 18 months, and kids aged 3 and 7 years were utilized. With few outliers, inverse relationships between a healthier diet and depression and anxiety symptom ratings at age 8 were seen at all time periods. In addition, nearly all time periods showed favorable correlations between diet ratings and kindness, extraversion, imagination, and conscientiousness. Higher diet ratings were also associated with a reduction in neuroticism. The authors conclude that their results support the idea that nutrition during pregnancy and in the early years of life may have an effect on various elements of a child’s mental health. [NPID: MoBa, cohort Study, child behavior, personality types, MBRN]
Year: 2023
