The importance of meat for cognitive development

Abstract

Over200 million children worldwide suffer from malnutrition and as a result areunderdeveloped both physically and mentally. Meat has more bioavailable essentialmicronutrients than plants and are the best source of nutrient-rich foods forchildren aged 6 to 23 mo according to the World Health Organization. Studies onthe role of meat on cognitive function are limited, but mostly show compellingbenefits, particularly in children. By contributing essential bioavailable micronutrientsto diets, meat consumption by children, particularly infants aged 6 to 23 months,can reduce stunting and the associated growth and cognitive impairment and therebyimprove school performance, reduce chronic disease susceptibility, increase adultearnings, and national  economicproductivity. There are, however, conflicting results in the literature on effectsof meat consumption on cognition in adult or senior subjects, particularly inexperiments with confounding factors. More large-scale randomized controlled longitudinal studies are requiredto further verify and fully understand the link between meat consumption andcognitive development.