Developing countries have many basic challenges to tackle and childhood hunger is one of them. Many children die at young age because they don’t have access to food. Malnutrition not only can be fatal, but a new study suggests that if children survive they have chances of weak brain function in old age.
A study was published in Social Science and Medicine, which revealed:
- Malnutrition during childhood can weaken brain function during old age
- women were 35% more likely to have cognitive impairment at age 65 or older
- men had 29% higher chance
It is imperative for the developing nations to fight malnutrition in...
children. Zhenmei Zhang, MSU assistant professor of sociology and lead researcher on the project said that “For example, fighting childhood hunger can reduce future medical expenditures. It’s very expensive for families and society to take care of people who suffer from dementia or cognitive impairment,”
Zhang also said that “Many of China’s surviving older individuals suffered from severe hunger and devastating wars in their childhood. Before 1949, for example, life expectancy in China was 35 years.”