Assessment of Neurodevelopment, Nutrition, and Inflammation From Fetal Life to Adolescence in Low-Resource Settings

Abstract

Efforts to improve child neurodevelopment are critical to health, equity, and sustainable development, particularly in low-resource settings in the United States and globally. The colliding epidemics of food insecurity, infectious diseases, and noncommunicable diseases interact and impact neurodevelopment. Understanding the complex relationships between nutrition, inflammation, and neurodevelopment can inform clinical and public health interventions to improve outcomes. This article reviews key definitions, tools, and considerations for the assessment of nutrition, inflammation, and child neurodevelopment. The effectiveness of existing assessment tools to reflect status and biology, particularly in relation to each other, and to predict long-term changes in health is examined. The aim of this review is to present the extant evidence, identify critical research gaps, and suggest a research agenda for future longitudinal and intervention studies to address the assessment of nutrition, inflammation, and child neurodevelopment, particularly in low-resource settings. Despite research gaps, there is a strong relationship between nutrition, inflammation, environmental factors, and child neurodevelopment, which emphasizes the need to evaluate targeted, early interventions to improve long-term health and well-being.