Urban environment and cognitive and motor function in children from four European birth cohorts

[EN]Background: The urban environment may influence neurodevelopment from conception onwards, but there is no evaluation of the impact of multiple groups of exposures simultaneously. We investigated the association between early-life urban environment and cognitive and motor function in children. Methods: We used data from 5403 mother-child pairs from four population-based birth-cohorts (UK, France, Spain, and Greece). We estimated thirteen urban home exposures during pregnancy and childhood, including: built environment, natural spaces, and air pollution. Verbal, non-verbal, gross motor, and fine motor functions were assessed using validated tests at five years old. We ran adjusted multi-e…

Infant feeding practices and early neurodevelopment

Texture matters- Food pieces and developmental milestones

Objectives and Study: While breastfeeding practices and age at complementary feeding introduction are well-recognised features of infant feeding, introduction to food texture has received little attention. Yet, timely exposure to diverse food textures could relate to later development of eating skills for proper chewing of food pieces, eating behaviour patterns and ultimately healthy growth. Moreover, the muscles involved in chewing praxis are the same as those involved in language praxis. The present study investigates the effects of introduction of food pieces on the development of gross motor skills and language expression in early life. - Methods We used data from the ELFE study (Étude …