Executive Summary: Research Gaps at the Intersection of Pediatric Neurodevelopment, Nutrition, and Inflammation in Low-Resource Settings

Abstract

* Abbreviations: BMGF — : Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation CDC — : United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CNS — : central nervous system FIC — : John E. Fogarty International Center HHS — : United States Department of Health and Human Services LRS — : low-resource setting NAS — : National Academy of Sciences NICHD — : Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development NIH — : United States National Institutes of Health SDGs — : United Nations Sustainable Development Goals UNICEF — : United Nations Children's Fund USAID — : United States Agency for International Development WHO — : World Health Organization A growing and compelling body of evidence demonstrates that children born into poverty, whether in high-, middle-, or low-income countries,1 are at heightened risk for compromised health and developmental outcomes throughout the life course.2–6 It is estimated that 80.8 million children ages 3 and 4 years in low- and middle-income countries experienced low cognitive and/or socioemotional development in 2010 based on Early Childhood Development Index scores, with the largest number of affected children in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the East Asia and Pacific region.6 Recent evidence has also underscored the importance of interventions to foster healthy neurodevelopment from preconception through adolescence in light of findings that the early years of life are a sensitive period for countering adverse exposures that threaten the integrity of neural, neuroendocrine, and immune systems.7 Consequently, there is an increasing recognition by the global health community of the need to expand initiatives to address not only the ongoing need for reduced child mortality, but also to decrease child morbidity and adverse exposures toward improving health and developmental outcomes. The bridging of the child survival and child development fields has recently been prioritized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies as being essential for optimizing global health, equity, and sustainable development.8 In fact, a recent review found significant overlap between public … Address correspondence to Vesna Kutlesic, PhD, Office of Global Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 6710B Rockledge Dr, MSC 7002, Bethesda, MD 20892. E-mail: vesna.kutlesic{at}nih.gov