The effect of subclinical infantile thiamine deficiency on motor function in preschool children.

Harel, Yael; Zuk, Luba; Guindy, Michal; Nakar, Orly; Lotan, Dafna; Fattal‐Valevski, Aviva

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.

ISRAEL; 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

Maternal & Child Nutrition, 2017, Vol 13, Issue 4, pn/a

1740-8695

Academic Journal

10.1111/mcn.12397