J Nutr. 2005 Aug;135(8):1967-73. Related Articles, Links

Dietary fat intake is associated with psychosocial and cognitive
functioning of school-aged children in the United States.

Zhang J, Hebert JR, Muldoon MF.

Division of Health and Family Studies, the Institute for Families in
Society, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA. bvw2@cdc.gov

Using cross-sectional data from the Third National Health and Nutrition
Survey, 1988-1994, we examined whether dietary fat intake is associated
with cognitive and psychosocial functioning in school-aged children.
Based upon 24-h diet recall interviews, dietary intakes of total fat,
SFA, monounsaturated fatty, PUFAs, and cholesterol were estimated in
3666 participants aged 6 to 16 y. Psychosocial functioning was
evaluated in interviews of each child's mother. Cognitive functioning
was measured using achievement and intelligence tests. Overall, total
fat and saturated fat were unrelated to measures of cognitive and
psychosocial functioning. Compared with equivalent energy intake from
saturated fat or carbohydrate, each 5% increase in energy intake from
PUFAs was associated with lower risks of poor performance on the digit
span test (replacing SFA, OR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.37-0.91; replacing
carbohydrate, OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.43-0.88). Cholesterol intake was
associated with an increased risk of poor performance on the digit span
test (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.11-1.42 for each 100-mg increment intake of
cholesterol). The associations were independent of socioeconomic
status, maternal education and marital status, and children's nutrition
status and were consistent across different methods of energy
adjustment in regression models. We conclude that high intake of PUFAs
may contribute to an improved performance on the digit span test. In
contrast, increased intake of cholesterol may be associated with a
poorer performance.

Publication Types:
Multicenter Study

PMID: 16046724 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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