NEW YORK, Aug 8: Chronic protein deficiency may cause delays in a child’s brain development that improve little over time, a new study shows.

The research was conducted in India, a country with a high rate of child malnutrition despite its current economic boom.

The World Health Organisation estimates that for the years 1990 to 1997, more than half of Indian children younger than 5 were undernourished, according to Dr Bhoomika R. Kar, from the University of Allahabad in India, and colleagues.

For their study, published in the online journal Behavioural and Brain Functions, the researchers assessed the cognitive development of 20 malnourished children and 20 adequately nourished children at different ages.

Malnourished children, the researchers found, performed more poorly than adequately nourished children on most of the neuropsychological tests they were given.—Reuters