{"id":397777,"date":"2026-04-14T10:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T10:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/397777\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T10:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T10:56:10","slug":"fortified-milk-drink-shows-promise-for-preschool-brain-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/397777\/","title":{"rendered":"Fortified milk drink shows promise for preschool brain development"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo our knowledge, this provides the first integrated evidence from a RCT linking a composite nutritional intervention to improved specific cognitive function, beneficial gut microbial shifts, and functional metabolic changes in early childhood,\u201d wrote researchers in the journal Nutrients. <\/p>\n

However, there was no significant difference in the scores for Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient, which the researchers noted is shaped by sustained environmental factors and therefore may be less susceptible to change in the study\u2019s short intervention period. <\/p>\n

On the other hand, the positive changes in Processing Speed Index may reflect the more dynamic changes during rapid development, in which nutritional changes may be more evident. <\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, our results suggest that the nutritional intervention may have preferentially supported the optimization of these underlying, rapidly developing neural processes, rather than inducing a broad-scale shift in integrated cognitive ability within the trial timeframe\u201d, the researchers wrote. <\/p>\n

Early brain development<\/p>\n

The preschool phase is a critical time for neurocognitive development, which the study noted lays \u201cthe foundation for future academic and social adaptation\u201d. <\/p>\n

Expansion in the cerebral cortex and myelination in the brain occur during these years, providing the basis for early information processing, and are linked to children\u2019s performance and abilities. <\/p>\n

As such, researchers see the pre-school period of brain development as a \u201cpivotal window\u201d for assessing the impact of environmental factors and nutrients. <\/p>\n

Nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals, play fundamental roles in brain development. However, young children may have inadequate diets or picky eating habits, and studies<\/a> indicate that over half of preschool children worldwide have micronutrient deficiencies.<\/p>\n

The inclusion of probiotics and prebiotics in fortified milk may support children\u2019s brain development through the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Still, the researchers noted a scarcity of long-term studies in the preschool age group, particularly those evaluating neurocognitive performance. <\/p>\n

Study details<\/p>\n

The randomized controlled trial assigned 120 healthy children aged 3 to 6 years to receive either a multi-nutrient fortified formula or standard control milk twice daily at 10am and 3pm for nine months. The fortified milk described by the researchers as \u201cenriched with a specific probiotic blend capable of modulating gut microbiota\u201d contained 50mg Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) per 100g, arachidonic acid (ARA), Bifidobacterium, galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), and multiple vitamins and minerals. <\/p>\n

The researchers assessed height, weight, and blood and fecal samples at 3-monthly intervals. The primary outcome was the Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ), a series of tests derived from a widely used cognitive assessment. In addition, secondary outcomes were the five core indices within the main test, including the Processing Speed Index (PSI).<\/p>\n

The results showed \u201cno significant difference in Full Scale Intelligence Quotient\u201d, but improvements in the fortified milk group in PSI, increased gut microbial alpha diversity, and Bifidobacterium abundance. <\/p>\n

Analysis showed a positive association between PSI and the elevation of markers of propionate metabolism and Bifidobacterium. <\/p>\n

\u201cFortified formula milk improved processing speed in preschoolers, a benefit associated with gut ecosystem modulation characterized by Bifidobacterium enrichment and upregulated microbial propanoate metabolism,\u201d the researchers concluded. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese results offer preliminary evidence for the role of the microbiota\u2013gut\u2013brain axis in nutritional cognitive programming during early childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Nutrients, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/nu18071167, \u201cEffects of Fortified Formula Milk Supplementation on Neurocognitive Development and the Microbiota\u2013Gut\u2013Brain Axis in Preschool Children: A Cluster-Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Trial.\u201c, Authors: Y. Gong et al. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cTo our knowledge, this provides the first integrated evidence from a RCT linking a composite nutritional intervention to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[175832,25023,175833,5768,21330,175834,175835,15596,154925,39440,25029,16125,121965,88244,103,3510,42141,61,15185,11544,60,20909,166,108698,91800,22540,9882,175836,107202,446,37370,2493,83729,149317,80,42144,175837,25037],"class_list":["post-397777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-aliment","tag-beautiful","tag-blond","tag-consumption","tag-delicious","tag-delighted","tag-expression","tag-face","tag-frame","tag-fundamental","tag-girl","tag-glass","tag-hands","tag-happy","tag-health","tag-healthy","tag-hold","tag-ie","tag-image","tag-important","tag-ireland","tag-kid","tag-lifestyle","tag-lip","tag-lips","tag-little","tag-lucky","tag-moustache","tag-nourishment","tag-nutrition","tag-one","tag-product","tag-smile","tag-tasty","tag-technology","tag-white","tag-white-kitchen","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}