Mental disorders high among malnourished children 

In a study which could have great significance and applicability in Indian context, in terms of implications, researchers have found that malnutrition or poor nutrition can be a contributory factor to mental disorder. Poverty is associated with a complex and interwoven web of negative outcomes, such as low dietary quality, increased rates of obesity, poor health, low levels of education, and high levels of stress. Rates of mental disorders are also higher in low-income communities, families, and individuals. What causes this is also multifaceted, but there is some evidence that poor nutrition may, at least in part, be to blame.

This relationship may be especially important during childhood when nutrient requirements are relatively high and many mental disorders begin to manifest. To investigate this possibility, a research team led by Dr. Michael Burke (U.S. Department of Agriculture and University of South Carolina) analyzed a large, nationally-representative dataset obtained by interviewing parents of 17,000 children (4-11 years old) and 14,000 adolescents (12-17 years old) and their families. To test their hypothesis that more severe household food insecurity is associated with higher risk of mental disorders in children and adolescents, they used the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data collected between 2011 and 2014.

Food insecurity is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in a socially acceptable way. In particular, the researchers investigated whether variation in mental disorder risk was correlated with severity of household food insecurity. Importantly, they statistically controlled for a list of confounding variables including child's sex, caregiver's education level, race and ethnicity, and self-perceived health status, and family structure and income.

The researchers found that as severity of household food insecurity worsened, so did the chances of that household having a child or adolescent with a mental disorder. Compared with food-secure households, children and adolescents in extremely food insecure households were 255 and 344% more likely, respectively, to have a mental disorder. Burke and his team concluded that their results provide indirect evidence that improving household food security status may reduce mental disorders among youth in the U.S.

However, correlation does not necessarily infer causality, so additional studies will be needed to determine if this association is actually causal in nature or due to other coincidental factors linked to both food security and mental health, such as exposure to violence. In India, malnutrition and poverty is omnipresent evident from the innumerable children suffering from deficiency and growth debilities. According to Rapid Survey on Children (RSoC) conducted by the ministry of women and child development, 29.4 per cent of children (aged less than three years) to be underweight (low in weight for their age), while 15 per cent were wasted (low weight for their height) and 38.7 per cent were stunted (low in height for age).