Dietary intake assessment of preschool children in nursery schools of Tehran and extent of its correlation with cognitive development

Previous studies have shown that poor nutrition may have a negative impact on cognitive function in children. This study aimed to assess the dietary intake of preschool children in kindergartens in Tehran and to determine the amount of possible correlation of dietary intake with cognitive development.
Material and the population study was all 5 to 6 years old children of preschools in Tehran who were supported by Welfare Organization in the year 2015-2016. Sampling was done using the multi-stage cluster random method, and in this way, one hundred subjects were randomly selected. Information on dietary intake collected using the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and cognitive development was assessed using Piaget test. Data analyzed using the t-test, Friedman test, and multivariate regression.
Amounts of vegetables and fruits intake were not desirable in pre-school children. Mean score of the first part of Piaget's test (3.27) was more than the second part (2.45). The correlation coefficient of the dietary intake and cognitive development of children was 0.213. Approximately, 4.5% of the variance in children's cognitive development is explained by their kind of dietary intake.
The results of this study show that the dietary intake and cognitive development in pre-school children are correlated and the amount of this association is 4.5%.