Effects of antioxidants on advancement of mental age and school performances of preschool children

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the effects of antioxidants on mental age and school performances of underprivileged preschoolers in two Government Primary Schools of Dhaka city. Ice cream fortified with beta-carotene, vitamin E, vitamin C and zinc at recommended doses and time duration was given to the study children (n=117). Equal quantity of plain ice cream was fed to the control children (n104) for the same duration. In study group and in controls the aseline mean serum level of p-carotene, vitamin E, were similar. At the end of intervention the study group bad serum level of 3-carotene as 22 mcg/dl, vitamin E as 938 mcg/dl, vitamin C as 0.96 mgldl and zinc as 1.11 mgldl. The same in control group after intervention came to be as B-carotene-4.8O mcg /dl, vitamin E-326 mcg Id!, vitamin C-0.15 mg/dl and zinc- 0.53 mg/dl. Mental age assessment highlighted that the study children bad mental age before intervention base line as; normal and advanced-21.4% and retarded- 78.6% which after intervention came to be normal and advanced-88%, retaçded-12% with p-value = <0.0001. But in control children it was found to be before intervention as normal and advanced-23.1% and retarded-76.9% which after intervention came to be as normal and advanced-24% and retarded-76%. Changes in the school performances of the study children in respect of mean total marks obtained were before intervention-311, after intervention-428 with paired t-test (0.000). But control children showed it to boas before intervention-328, after intervention-331. It can be concluded that food fortification can be an important tool to improve the nutritional and mental state of underprivileged school children.