Abstract

ESPOSITO, Yara Lúcia. Malnutrition and cognition. Cad. Pesqui. [online]. 1975, n.14, pp.87-96. ISSN 0100-1574.

The purpose of the present work is to verify the effects of malnutrition on the cognitive ability of the preschool children coming from families with a low socio-economic level. In a sample from low S.E.L. in the city of São Paulo, it was verified that the children with a high risk of a prior malnutrition exposure presented performance deficits in the Psychoneurological Functions, Basic Concepts, and Cognitive Operations areas. In a low S.E.L. group in Brasília, the results showed that actual under-nourished children have a performance similar to that of children with a normal weight for their age. However, the group with signs of prior malnutrition achieved significantly lower results in the Cognitive Instrument, even lower than those reached by the group with actual malnutrition.

Keywords : Desnutrição; Desenvolvimento cognitivo; Condições socioeconômicas; Crianças.

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