Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T00:24:33.976Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Undernutrition and elevated blood lead levels: effects on psychomotor development among Jamaican children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 1998

Julie Meeks Gardner ,
Susan P Walker ,
Susan M Chang ,
Mitko Vutchkov  and
Gerald C Lalor
Julie Meeks Gardner*
Affiliation:
Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies
Susan P Walker
Affiliation:
Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies
Susan M Chang
Affiliation:
Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies
Mitko Vutchkov
Affiliation:
International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies
Gerald C Lalor
Affiliation:
International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies
*
*Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objective:

We examined whether or not the effect of elevated blood lead levels on children's psychomotor development was modified by their nutritional status.

Design:

Anthropometry, developmental quotients (DQs), blood lead levels and haemoglobin were measured in lead exposed and unexposed children with different levels of nutritional status. Social background and maternal height and verbal intelligence were also measured. Testers, anthropometrists and interviewers established reliabilities with a trainer before the study began.

Setting:

Children were from two suburban areas in Kingston, Jamaica. All measurements on the children were carried out at a research unit. Social background and maternal measurements were carried out at the children's homes.

Subjects:

The exposed group comprised 58 children (3–6 years) attending the same preschool which was situated in a lead contaminated environment. The unexposed group comprised 53 children attending a nearby preschool without lead contamination.

Results:

The exposed children had significantly higher blood lead levels and lower DQs, and their homes had poorer facilities than the unexposed children. The deficit in DQ was greater (10.6 points) among children with weight for height less than –1 SD (National Center for Health Statistics references) than among better nourished Children (2 points).

Conclusions:

Undernourished children exposed to lead may have more serious developmental deficits than better nourished children.

Keywords

LeadUndernutritionChildrenPsychomotor developmentDeveloping countriesJamaica
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , September 1998 , pp. 177 - 179
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1998

References

1UNICEF. The State of the World's Children 1998. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.Google Scholar
2Grantham-McGregor, S. Recent advances in research on mental development and protein energy malnutrition. In: Walqvist, M et al. , eds. Nutrition in a Sustainable Environment. Proceedings of the xvth International Congress of Nutrition. UK: Smith-Gordon, 1994.Google Scholar
3Fergusson, DM, Horwood, LJ, Lynskey, MT. Early dentine lead levels and subsequent cognitive and behavioural development. J Child. Pxychol. Psychiatr. 1993; 34: 215–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4Wasserman, G, Graziano, JH, Factor-Litvak, P, et al. Independent effects of lead exposure and iron deficiency anemia on development outcome at age 2 years. J. Pediatr. 1992; 121: 695–703.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Baghurst, PA, McMichael, AJ, Wigg, NR, et al. Environmental exposure to lead and children's intelligence at the age of seven years. N. Engl. J. Med. 1992; 327: 1279–84.Google Scholar
6Bellinger, D, Sloman, J, Leviton, A, Rabinowitz, M. Needleman, HL, Waternauz, C. Low-level lead exposure and children's cognitive function in the preschool years. Pediatrics 1991; 87: 219–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Dietrich, KN, Krafft, KM, Bornschein, RL, et al. Low-level fetal lead exposure effect on neurobehavioral development in early infancy. Pediatrics 1987; 80: 721–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Cunningham, RD. Skeptical about importance of low levels of lead. Pediatrics 1993; 91: 1214.Google Scholar
9Pearce, F. A heavy responsibility. New Scientist 1996; 07 27: 12–13.Google Scholar
10Anglin-Brown, B, Armour-Brown, A, Lalor, GC. Heavy metal pollution in Jamaica 1: Survey of cadmium, lead and zinc concentrations in the Kintyre and Hope Flat districts. Environ. Geochem. Health 1995; 17: 51–6.Google Scholar
11Johnson, A, Lalor, GC, Preston, J, Vutchkov, MK. Heavy metal pollution in Jamaica 2: Background levels of lead in Jamaican soils. Jamaican J. Sci. Tech, in press.Google Scholar
12Policy Development Unit. Poverty Mapping: A Report on the Spatial Representation of Deprivation in Jamaica. Kingston, Jamaica: Planning Institute of Jamaica, 1996.Google Scholar
13Griffiths, R. The Abilities of Young Children. London: Child Development Research Centre, 1970.Google Scholar
14Lohman, TG, Roche, AF, Martorell, R. Anthropometric Standardization Reference Manual. Champaign, II: Human Kinetics Books, 1988.Google Scholar
15Hudson-Thomas, M, Bingham, KC, Simmonds, WK. An evaluation of the Hemocue for measuring haemoglobin in field studies in Jamaica. Bull. WHO 1994; 72: 423–6.Google Scholar
16Vereby, K, Eng, YM, Davidow, B, Ramon, A. Rapid sensitive micro blood lead analysis: a mass screening technique for lead poisoning. J. Analyt. Toxicol. 1991; 15: 237–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17Rosen, JF, Schonfeld, DJ, Carriero, D, et al. Blood collection and analytical considerations in blood lead screening in children. Clin. Chem. 1995; 41: 469–70.Google Scholar
18Bradley, RH, Caldwell, BM. Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment: a validation study of screening efficiency. Am. J. Mental Deficiency 1977; 81: 417–20.Google ScholarPubMed
19Dunn, LM, Dunn, LM. Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—Revised. Nashville, TN: American Guidance Service, 1982.Google Scholar
20National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control. NCHS Growth Curves for Children, Birth lo 18 Years. Washington, DC: US Govt. Printing Office 1978. [Series 11, 165. DHEW Publication 78, 1650.]Google Scholar
21Needleman, HL, Gastonis, CA. Low-level lead exposure and the IQ of children. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 1990; 263: 673–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22Smith, MA. The effects of low-level lead exposure on children. In: Smith, MA, Grant, LD, Sors, AI, eds. Lead Exposure and Child Development, an International Assessment. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, 1989, 3–47.Google Scholar