Nutritional Supplementation in Early Childhood, Schooling, and Intellectual Functioning in Adulthood

Objective: To estimate the association of improved nutrition in early life with adult intellectual functioning, controlling for years of schooling.Design: Prospective cohort study.Setting: Four villages in Guatemala, as well as locations within Guatemala to which cohort members migrated.Participants: Individuals who had participated as children in a nutrition supplementation intervention trial from March 1, 1969, through February 28, 1977 (N=2392).From May 1, 2002, through April 30, 2004, adequate information for analysis was obtained from 1448 of 2118 individuals (68.4%) not known to have died.Interventions: Individuals exposed to atole (a proteinrich enhanced nutrition supplement) at birth through age 24 months were compared with those exposed to the supplement at other ages or to fresco, a sugar-sweetened beverage.We measured years of schooling by interview.