The effects of micronutrient interventions on other domains were inconsistent .
Improvement in fluid intelligence among micronutrient-deficient children was consistently reported .
BACKGROUND & AIMS Micronutrients are essential for brain development with deficiencies in specific nutrients linked to impaired cognitive function .
Interventions are shown to be beneficial to children 's mental development , particularly in subjects who were micronutrient-deficient at baseline but results on healthy subjects remain inconsistent .
This systematic review evaluated the effect of micronutrient inventions on different cognitive domains .
The effect of vitamin-mineral supplementation on juvenile delinquency among American schoolchildren: a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial.
CONTEXT Numerous studies conducted in juvenile correctional institutions have reported that violence and serious antisocial behavior have been cut almost in half after implementing nutrient-dense diets that are consistent with the World Health Organization 's guidelines for fats , sugar , starches , and protein ratios . Two controlled trials tested whether the cause of the behavioral improvements was psychological or biological in nature by comparing the behavior of offenders who either received placebos or vitamin-mineral supplements design ed to provide the micronutrient equivalent of a well-balanced diet . These r and omized trials reported that institutionalized offenders , aged 13 to 17 years or 18 to 26 years , when given active tablets produced about 40 % less violent and other antisocial behavior than the placebo controls . However , generalization could not be made to typical schoolchildren without a controlled trial examining violence and antisocial behavior in public schools . OBJECTIVES To determine if schoolchildren , aged 6 to 12 years , who are given low dose vitamin-mineral tablets will produce significantly less violence and antisocial behavior in school than classmates who are given placebos . DESIGN A stratified r and omized , double-blind , placebo-controlled trial with pretest and post-test measures of antisocial behavior on school property . SETTING S AND SUBJECTS Two " working class , " primarily Hispanic elementary schools in Phoenix , Arizona . Approximately half of the potential schoolchildren participated , i.e. , 468 students aged 6 to 12 years . INTERVENTION Daily vitamin-mineral supplementation at 50 % of the U.S. recommended daily allowance ( RDA ) for 4 months versus placebo . The supplement was design ed to raise vitamin-mineral intake up to the levels currently recommended by the National Academy of Sciences for children aged 6 to 11 years . OUTCOME MEASURE Violent and nonviolent delinquency as measured by official school disciplinary records . RESULTS Of the 468 students r and omly assigned to active or placebo tablets , the 80 who were disciplined at least once between September 1st and May 1st served as the research sample . During intervention , the 40 children who received active tablets were disciplined , on average , 1 time each , a 47 % lower mean rate of antisocial behavior than the 1.875 times each for the 40 children who received placebos ( 95 % confidence interval , 29 % to 65 % , < 5 .020 ) . The children who took active tablets produced lower rates of antisocial behavior in 8 types of recorded infractions : threats/fighting , v and alism , being disrespectful , disorderly conduct , defiance , obscenities , refusal to work or serve , endangering others , and nonspecified offenses . CONCLUSION Poor nutritional habits in children that lead to low concentrations of water-soluble vitamins in blood , impair brain function and subsequently cause violence and other serious antisocial behavior . Correction of nutrient intake , either through a well-balanced diet or low-dose vitamin-mineral supplementation , corrects the low concentrations of vitamins in blood , improves brain function and subsequently lowers institutional violence and antisocial behavior by almost half . This paper adds to the literature by enabling previous research to be generalized from older incarcerated subjects with a history of antisocial behavior to a normal population of younger children in an educational setting
The effects of micronutrient interventions on other domains were inconsistent .
Improvement in fluid intelligence among micronutrient-deficient children was consistently reported .
BACKGROUND & AIMS Micronutrients are essential for brain development with deficiencies in specific nutrients linked to impaired cognitive function .
Interventions are shown to be beneficial to children 's mental development , particularly in subjects who were micronutrient-deficient at baseline but results on healthy subjects remain inconsistent .
This systematic review evaluated the effect of micronutrient inventions on different cognitive domains .