Book Chapter

Chapter 7: Childhood Threats to Adult Cognition in Sub- Saharan Africa: Malaria, Anemia, Stunting, Enteric Enteropathy, and the Microbiome of Malnutrition

Publication Type

Many common childhood conditions are associated with cognitive deficits. While some causes of impaired cognition, such as lead exposure, are well understood, other common conditions in countries such as Uganda - malnutrition, anemia and malaria - are not sufficiently recognized. In this chapter we discuss stunting and its root causes of undernutrition, a lack of sanitation and its relationship to environmental enteropathy and the intestinal microbiome. We also review information about iron-deficiency anemia and malaria, and their neurological and cognitive consequences.

Afterword: Now is The Time

Publication Type
Author

Chapter in The Road to Good Nutrition: A Global Perspective

Does the world really need this book? Do the shelves of analysts and policymakers need the weight of yet another compendium of ideas, statistics and rhetoric?

The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is yes. Such a book is needed now, more than ever, because it reflects the rapid convergence of opinion around priority problems and likely pathways towards solutions.