Nutritional status, cognitive development and plasmatic levels of zink and aluminum in children with Down syndrome
International Journal of Development Research
Nutritional status, cognitive development and plasmatic levels of zink and aluminum in children with Down syndrome
Received 19th October, 2017; Received in revised form 27th November, 2017; Accepted 29th December, 2017; Published online 31st January, 2018.
Copyright © 2018, Ana Carla Gomes Rosa et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The present study evaluated nutritional status and cognitive development of children and adolescents with Down syndrome. In parallel, plasma concentrations of zinc and aluminum were determined. The research was carried out in Campo Grande, Middle Western Brazil. Thirty individuals from 6 to 16 years old participated in the study. The Human Figure Drawing test III for the assessment of cognitive development was used. The prevalence of overweight and obesity is high, exceeding the rates observed in children with typical development. The psychological evaluation by the DFH III test confirms the delay of the cognitive maturity of those with DS around 50% of the chronological age. Zinc deficiency is present in a significant number of children with DS. The excess of plasmatic aluminum may represent a risk factor for a significant percentage of individuals with DS. Neither zinc nor aluminum in the plasma seems to affect the cognitive maturity of young individuals with DS.
