1. The effect of subclinical infantile thiamine deficiency on motor function in preschool children.
- Author
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Harel, Yael, Zuk, Luba, Guindy, Michal, Nakar, Orly, Lotan, Dafna, and Fattal‐Valevski, Aviva
- Subjects
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ANALYSIS of variance , *CHI-squared test , *CHILD development , *CONFIDENCE intervals , *POSTURAL balance , *INFANT formulas , *LONGITUDINAL method , *MOTOR ability , *PROBABILITY theory , *T-test (Statistics) , *VITAMIN B1 deficiency , *STATISTICAL significance , *RETROSPECTIVE studies , *DATA analysis software , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *ODDS ratio - Abstract
We investigated the long-term implications of infantile thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency on motor function in preschoolers who had been fed during the first 2 years of life with a faulty milk substitute. In this retrospective cohort study, 39 children aged 5-6 years who had been exposed to a thiamine-deficient formula during infancy were compared with 30 age-matched healthy children with unremarkable infant nutritional history. The motor function of the participants was evaluated with The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC) and the Zuk Assessment. Both evaluation tools revealed statistically significant differences between the exposed and unexposed groups for gross and fine motor development ( p < .001, ball skills p = .01) and grapho-motor development ( p = .004). The differences were especially noteworthy on M-ABC testing for balance control functioning ( p < .001, OR 5.4; 95% CI 3.4-7.4) and fine motor skills ( p < .001, OR 3.2; 95% CI 1.8-4.6). In the exposed group, both assessments concurred on the high rate of children exhibiting motor function difficulties in comparison to unexposed group (M-ABC: 56% vs. 10%, Zuk Assessment: 59% vs. 3%, p < .001). Thiamine deficiency in infancy has long-term implications on gross and fine motor function and balance skills in childhood, thiamine having a crucial role in normal motor development. The study emphasizes the importance of proper infant feeding and regulatory control of breast milk substitutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
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