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ARS Home » Plains Area » Grand Forks, North Dakota » Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center » Dietary Prevention of Obesity-related Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #97902
Title: COGNITIVE AND NEUROMOTOR PERFORMANCE OF GUATEMALAN SCHOOLERS WITH DEFICIENT, MARGINAL AND NORMAL PLASMA VITAMIN B-12

Author
item ALLEN, LINDSAY - UNIV CALIFORNIA - DAVIS
item Penland, James
item BOY, ERIC - INCAP
item DEBAESSA, YETILU - INCAP
item ROGERS, LISA - UNIV CALIFORNIA - DAVIS

Submitted to: Experimental Biology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/17/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Based on our previous observation of a high prevalence of deficient and marginal plasma vitamin B-12 concentrations in Guatemalan school children, the present study was designed to identify children with deficient, marginal and normal plasma vitamin B-12 and then to compare cognitive and neuromotor performance among the B-12 status groups. In Phase I, 554 Guatemalan school children, aged 8-12 y, were screened for vitamin B-12 and folate status. This phase identified 11% of children as deficient (plasma vitamin B-12 <221 pg/mL) and an additional 22% as marginal (221- 300 pg/mL). Subsequently 57 deficient children were grade-, gender-, and age-matched to children in the marginal and normal groups. Cognitive and neuromotor functions were assessed by the CPAS-R, a culture-free computer- administered test battery. Reasoning, short-term memory and perception were significantly poorer in the deficient than in the normal children (p<0.05), controlling for age and sex (ANOVA). Future analyses will include more sensitive measures of vitamin B-12 status (plasma holotranscobalamin II, methylmalonic acid and homocysteine) and control for socioeconomic status, hemoglobin, iron status, and blood lead. Supported by the Thrasher Foundation.