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Nutritional status, brain development and scholastic achievement of Chilean high-school graduates from high and low intellectual quotient and socio-economic status

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Daniza M. Ivanovic ,
Boris P. Leiva ,
Hernán T. Pérez ,
Atilio F. Almagià ,
Triana D. Toro ,
María Soledad C. Urrutia ,
Nélida B. Inzunza  and
Enrique O. Bosch
Daniza M. Ivanovic*
Affiliation:
University of Chile, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA), Human and Clinical Nutrition Area, Santiago, Chile
Boris P. Leiva
Affiliation:
University of Chile, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA), Human and Clinical Nutrition Area, Santiago, Chile
Hernán T. Pérez
Affiliation:
University of Chile, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA), Human and Clinical Nutrition Area, Santiago, Chile
Atilio F. Almagià
Affiliation:
Catholic University of Valparaíso, Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Valparaíso, Chile
Triana D. Toro
Affiliation:
Catholic University of Valparaíso, Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Valparaíso, Chile
María Soledad C. Urrutia
Affiliation:
Ministry of Education, Santiago, Chile
Nélida B. Inzunza
Affiliation:
Adventist University of Chile (Camino Tanilvoro S/N, Chillán, Chile) Loma Linda University, Loma Linda California 92350, USA
Enrique O. Bosch
Affiliation:
Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Service, German Clinic of Santiago, Santiago, Chile
*
*Corresponding author: Professor Daniza M. Ivanovic, present address Avda. Macul 5540, PO Box 138-11, Santiago, Chile, fax +56 2 221 4030, email [email protected]
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Abstract

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The objective of the present study was to investigate the inter-relationships between nutritional status (past and current nutrition), brain development, and scholastic achievement (SA) of Chilean high-school graduates from high and low intellectual quotient (IQ) and socio-economic status (SES) (mean age 18·0 (SD 0·9) years). Results showed that independently of SES, high-school graduates with similar IQ have similar nutritional, brain development and SA variables. Multiple regression analysis between child IQ (dependent variable) and age, sex, SES, brain volume (BV), undernutrition during the first year of life, paternal and maternal IQ (independent variables) revealed that maternal IQ (P<0·0001), BV (P<0·0387) and severe undernutrition during the first year of life (P<0·0486), were the independent variables with the greatest explanatory power for child IQ variance (r2 0·707), without interaction with age, sex or SES. Child IQ (P<0·0001) was the only independent variable that explained both SA variance (r2 0·848) and academic aptitude test variance (r2 0·876) without interaction with age, sex or SES. These results confirm the hypotheses formulated for this study that: (1) independently of SES, high-school graduates with similar IQ have similar variables of nutritional status, brain development and SA; (2) past nutritional status, brain development, child IQ and SA are strongly and significantly inter-related. These findings are relevant in explaining the complex interactions between variables that affect IQ and SA and can be useful for nutritional and educational planning.

Keywords

Nutrition assessmentBrainEducationLearningIntelligenceSocio-economic factors
Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 87 , Issue 1 , January 2002 , pp. 81 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2002

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