The Relationship Between Nutrition, Brain, Cognition, Learning, and Behavior in School-Age Children: Systematic Evidence and Future Opportunities

Key messages:

• School age (5–18 years) is a pivotal window for brain and cognitive development, yet nutrition‐related brain and learning outcomes in typically developing children remain comparatively under‐studied.
• This work analyzed nearly a thousand (N=966) publications to summarize the available evidence that links nutrition to neurodevelopment. Surprisingly, there is a big gap in knowledge when it comes to school age.
• Across 76 studies included in this systematic review, better overall diet quality (especially Mediterranean and Nordic patterns) and specific nutrients (e.g., long‐chain PUFAs, iron, vitamin D, polyphenols, carotenoids) were consistently associated with more favorable outcomes in brain structure/function, cognition, school performance, and behavior.