Mental health: How nutrition plays a key role in brain development of a child

A basic refresher of our Biology classes remind us that the food we choose to eat affects the development of our brains and it’s functioning – from stages of being a fetus till we grow into seniority. However, nutritional / nutrient insults i.e., inadequate nutrition can particularly adversely affect the brain development between 24 and 42 weeks of fetal development, given that this is the time period in which various neurological processes build upon one another.

Nutrition plays a key role in all cognitive processes, mood and brain performance and nutritional deficiencies result in various illnesses and symptoms – many of which are age dependent and affect the central nervous system.

The young brain is blessed with fantastic plasticity i.e., the ability of the brain to modify its neural connections to adapt to evolving or new reality – simply put – it re-wires itself with elan. This means it can repair itself after a shock as a result of which infants and children can learn new skills including those that promote resilience and protect their mental health. However, there is a catch. The vulnerability to nutritional insults in gestation period as well as during infancy and childhood outweighs this plasticity of the brain. As a result, structural and/or functional damage may persist even after repletion.

Let’s look at ADHD – attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Deemed incurable, ADHD is a chronic condition that often has an onset in childhood and can continue well into adulthood. In its outward manifestation, it may contribute towards the individual experiencing self-esteem issues, relationship struggles and difficulty in structured spaces – say school or work.

A string of studies published as recently as in 2017 substantiated what public health warriors have suspected since long– prenatal exposure to an unhealthy diet is associated with ADHD symptoms – except that the studies further revealed an epigenetic modification of blood derived DNA – i.e., the DNA that is derived from the parents.
Low maternal serum Vitamin D (sources of which include sunlight, mushrooms, fish, egg yolk and fortified food) during the first trimester related to behavioural difficulties of the child exhibiting ADHD symptoms in pre-school age.

The maternal vitamin D is fundamental to early brain development including development of brain cells, regulation of neural growth, calcium signaling and more. Further studies have illustrated that vitamin D appears to play a role in the pathogenesis of mental disorders postnatal, too.

Not just in ADHD, other nutritional insults such as insufficient levels of Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) (sources of which include nuts, seeds, and oils such as walnuts, sunflower seeds, flax seeds or flax oil, fish, soybean etc.) may be related to a range of mental wellness issues such as depression, juvenile bipolar disorder, intellectual disabilities, and learning difficulties.

In healthcare, an increasing number of mental health practitioners have been exploring addressing the microbiome-gut-brain axis. This involves the understanding of increasingly complex interactions between multiple systems, including the metabolic, immune, endocrine, and neural systems.

Over the last decade, a vast expanse of studies has reflected the influence of gut bacteria on brain chemistry as well as neural development which in turn affects the physiological stress system, cognition, and different aspects of human behavior. This is not in isolation to the fact that the brain can also affect the gut bacteria to the extent that it can even modify the gut microbiome leading to colonization by pathogenic bacteria, which, in turn, affects brain functioning and brings into being a series of mental wellness struggles for the individual. This loop is especially evident in those living with mental health conditions such as Anorexia Nervosa with gut microbiome also playing a role in the persistence of eating disorders like Anorexia Nervosa.

While therapeutic efforts to influence brain function and mental wellbeing through nutrition is yet to be mainstreamed, the array of available nutritional and dietary recommendations for children, adolescents, adults, and seniors can be daunting. Add to the fact that a one size fits all strategy does not work in this context and that adherence to a therapy/treatment regimen itself is a challenge for most individuals and families, especially parents of young children.

Yet again, in the times that we live in with multiple stressors, nutrition – most of it from locally sourced food – may just be the most viable option to address mental wellbeing, starting from the time the child is conceived and remains an area that needs the focus of practitioners, individuals and caregivers alike.

The author is Associate Director at Swasti, The Health Catalyst – a global public health agency headquartered in Bangalore, India. Views expressed are personal

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