ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition, Psychology and Brain Health
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1571677
NUTRITION AND HOME ENVIRONMENT IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Provisionally accepted
Lindsey C Partington1*
Haiying Yuan2,3Maku E Demuyakor4Seth Adu-Afarwuah5
Amanda E Guyer6Kathryn G Dewey3Sika M Kumordzie3Brietta M Oaks7Charles D Arnold3Elizabeth L Prado3
Paul Hastings6- 1Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, Institute for Global Nutrition, Davis, United States
- 2Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Austin, Texas, United States
- 3Institute for Global Nutrition, Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, Davis, United States
- 4McKing Consulting Corporation, Atlanta, GA, United States
- 5Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
- 6Center for Mind and Brain, College of Letters and Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, United States
- 7Department of Nutrition, College of Health Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, New York, United States
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Introduction: This study examines how an early-life small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement (LNS) interacts with the home environment to influence Ghanaian children's socialemotional functioning at preschool age.In a randomized controlled trial, 1,320 Ghanaian women received either daily LNS, multiple micronutrients (MMN) or iron and folic acid (IFA) during pregnancy through six months postpartum. Infants in the LNS group received the daily supplement from 6 to 18 months. The IFA and MMN groups were combined to be the control group. At 4-6 years (n = 966), we assessed children's home environments (caregiver responsivity, negative behavior acceptance, physical environment, learning materials, academic stimulation) and their socialemotional strengths and difficulties.Results: Both LNS and higher quality home environments -particularly caregiver responsivity and negative behavior acceptance -predicted children having fewer social-emotional difficulties.LNS supplementation moderated relations between the home environment and children's hyperactivity/inattention and total difficulties. Living in a safer physical environment was related to fewer hyperactivity/inattention problems and total difficulties only for children who received LNS. Less academic stimulation was related to more hyperactivity/inattention only for children in the control group.: Early-life LNS supplementation and supportive home environments reduce socialemotional difficulties in Ghanaian children. Nutritional interventions are most effective in the context of safe, stimulating households, demonstrating that integrated interventions support children's well-being in low-and middle-income countries. Clinical trial registration: www.clinicaltrials.gov; Identifier NCT00970866.
Keywords: nutritional supplement, social-emotional development, home environment, Low-and middle-income countries, Integrated intervention, small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement
Received: 05 Feb 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Partington, Yuan, Demuyakor, Adu-Afarwuah, Guyer, Dewey, Kumordzie, Oaks, Arnold, Prado and Hastings. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lindsey C Partington, Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, Institute for Global Nutrition, Davis, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.