A recent study gives parents another good reason to prepare and serve their babies healthy foods. While it’s understood that the first two years of life are a “critical growth period for a baby's brain development, the development of a child’s intelligence may be lowered by a poor diet,” according to University of Adelaide researchers. 

Their study looked into the data of a child’s early eating habits at six months, 15 months, and two years of age. It then conducted a follow-up IQ test at the age of 8 that found there is a correlation between a child’s diet and their IQ.

A standard IQ test is designed to measure a person’s performance relative to their peers, most commonly, their age group.

"Diet supplies the nutrients needed for the development of brain tissues in the first two years of life and the aim of this study was to look at what impact diet would have on children’s IQs,” said Dr. Lisa Smithers, study author and researcher.

More than 7,000 children participated in the study, which compared a range of dietary patterns, including traditional and contemporary home-prepared food, ready-prepared baby foods, breastfeeding and ‘discretionary’ or junk foods.

Researchers found babies who were breast-fed and ate nutritious foods during their first two years measured one to two points higher on IQ tests at age eight than did babies who may have been fed less nutritious foods, such as chips, sweets and soda.

"While the differences in IQ are not huge, this study provides some of the strongest evidence to date that dietary patterns from six to 24 months have a small but significant effect on IQ at eight years of age," public health researcher Lisa Smithers said in a university news release. “It is important that we consider the longer-term impact of the foods we feed our children.”

While this study seems to reinforce what we already know— that our bodies and brains need healthy food to grow and develop— it offers some interesting notes about the impact of certain foods on babies' brain development, writes Julie Rasicot, author of the blog “The Early Years.” 

“For example, babies who were breast-fed at six months and ate foods such as herbs, legumes, cheese, raw fruit and vegetables at 15 to 24 months exhibited a one- to two-point higher IQ at age eight. But while a diet of homemade meat, cooked vegetables and desserts at six months was positively associated with higher IQ scores, there was no association with similar patterns at 15 or 24 months."

Dr. Smithers’ team also found some negative impact on IQ from ready-prepared baby foods given at six months, but some positive associations when given at 24 months. “We found that children who were breastfed at six months and had a healthy diet regularly including foods such as legumes, cheese, fruit and vegetables at 15 and 24 months had an IQ up to two points higher by age eight.”

A Harvard study suggests that the IQ boosting power of a healthy diet begins before birth. Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that expectant moms who ate the most fish— more than three servings a week— were 30 percent more likely to have children with higher developmental scores at 18 months of age compared with those whose mothers ate less than a serving a week.

The Harvard researchers also found that “babies who were breast-fed for 10 months or longer had higher developmental scores at 18 months. Those great fats found in fish also pass into breast milk. While baby formulas are now fortified with these fats, there may be other still-unrecognized substances in breast milk that help with babies' brain development.”

Jayne Matthews-Hopson is a writer and academic advocate. Education Matters because “only the educated are free.” Your thoughts, comments and suggestions are welcomed at: http://baltimoretimes-online.com.  

Learning to read does not come naturally, says Margie Gillis, Ed.D. “It must be taught. The earlier you begin, the greater your child’s chances are of becoming a fluent reader.” While reading may not be intuitive, it is a skill that all successful students must master—  the sooner the better.   

Consider some of the benefits preschool literacy documented by the National Commission on Reading, American Early Childhood Literacy Gap Commission and the National School Readiness Indicators Initiative Report respectively:

•The single most significant factor influencing a child's early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school.

•Reading to a child aged three to five years builds alphabetic knowledge, print convention concepts and phonological awareness— skills that are fundamental to literacy.

•At least 50 percent of the educational achievement gaps between poor and non-poor children already exist when entering kindergarten.

To help prepare preschoolers for successful written language processing and reading comprehension, Dr. Ellis has created 12 easy to follow activities. She advises parents to keep it fun by initiating these and other learning activities while riding in the car, taking a walk or just playing.

•Syllable Recognition: Clapping so kids can hear how many syllables a word contains. Words like bi-cy-cle and el-e-phant engage attention.

•Rhyming: Reading, rhyming books is fun. So is making up nonsense rhymes or playing “I see something that rhymes with hat.”

•Alliteration: Try Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers with three or four-year-olds, calling their attention to hearing the “p” sound at the beginning of the word.

•Oral language comprehension: Ask your child to retell a story you have read, or to repeat a sentence. Using a puppet to demonstrate delights your kids. If your child has difficulty with words out of context or multiple meanings (confuses letter of the alphabet

with a letter that is mailed), explain it.

•Abstract words: Demonstrate abstract words such as prepositions. For example, “Let’s put Danny’s shoe under, next to, and on the table.”

•Background knowledge: Relate to real experiences. To understand a story about the zoo, it helps to have been there, or to have seen a zoo on TV.

•Sentence structure: Explain complexities, particularly for sentences that are long and have several parts. Some children need help understanding that “I went to the store after playing in the park” can be expressed as “After playing in the park, I went to the store.”

•Oral language expression: Children that learn to talk late are at a disadvantage. Give them the chance to express themselves. Talking with a puppet may help.

•Vocabulary: Learning to read requires knowledge of vocabulary (recognizing what words mean) and verbal reasoning abilities. Ask your child to explain things such as why it gets cold at night.

•Print awareness: This includes recognizing that the words on the page-not the pictures-carry the message, and that words are read left to right and top to bottom.

•Letter recognition: To help kids identify letters with confidence, play with 3-D letters, watch Sesame Street together, look at alphabet books and notice familiar letters in signs and names, particularly the child’s own.

•Phonological and phonemic awareness: Children begin by recognizing and producing words that rhyme. Nursery rhymes and poetry are great for this. As they move into Kindergarten the focus shifts to individual sounds in words. For example, “What sound do you hear at the end of fish?” “Tell me the three sounds in fish.”

Jayne Matthews-Hopson is a writer and academic advocate. Education Matters because “only the educated are free.” Your thoughts, comments and suggestions are welcomed at: www.baltimoretimes-online.com. 

What does Johns Hopkins University, Morgan Stanley, Baltimore City Community College and professional staffing agency, Aerotek, have in common? The answer is Year Up Baltimore. These high-profile businesses and organizations are partners in an innovative training program that provides hand-on skill development, college credits and corporate internship to young adults between the ages of 18 and 24. 

Baltimore is part of the national Year Up initiative. Founded by Gerald Chertavian, Year Up was created to close what he calls the “opportunity divide” that limits financial success for low income, urban students.  Since its opening in 2000, the Boston-based organization has partnered with over 200 major corporations, served over 4,000 students and expanded to Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Providence, San Francisco and Seattle.

Smart companies put a premium on critical thinking and problem solving skills, teamwork and communication, says Chertavian. Year Up’s education/training program meets that need by preparing students for entry-level jobs in technology and finance. The first six months focuses on technical and professional skill building, while the second six months focuses on applying these skills through corporate internships. Students also earn up to 18 college credits.

Established in 2010, Baltimore is home to the first Year Up community college-based program. The Baltimore City Community College Liberty Heights campus serves an estimated 64 young adults, providing support services such as tutoring, library access, mentoring. Plans are to replicate the Baltimore model at Year Up’s around the country.

Chertavian’s commitment to working with urban youth spans more than 25 years. He has actively participated in the Big Brother mentoring program since 1985. He is the recipient of the 2003 Social Entrepreneurship Award by the Manhattan Institute and the 2005 Freedom House Archie R. Williams, Jr. Technology Award. In 2008, he was appointed to serve on the Massachusetts State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

He earned a B.A. in Economics, graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, from Bowdoin College and an M.B.A., with honors, from Harvard Business School. He is on the Board of Advisors for the Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative, a former board member of The Boston Foundation and an Emeritus Trustee of Bowdoin College. His 2012 book, A Year Up, was a New York Times best seller.

With a business career that began on Wall Street as an officer of the Chemical Banking Corporation, Chertavian co-founded Conduit Communications and fostered its growth to more than $20 million in annual revenues and more than 130 employees in London, Amsterdam, New York and Boston. After he sold the company in 1999, he turned his full attention to creating opportunities for others.

When asked to define the elements necessary for Year Up’s success Chertavian replied: “The most critical aspects of our program are threefold. First, we focus heavily on what we call ‘ABCs,’ or attitudinal and behavioral communication skills, and ensure that our young adults are prepared to enter into some very rigorous knowledge-based environments like the LinkedIns, the Googles, or the J.P. Morgans.

We focus very heavily on what some people call the "soft skills" or non-cognitive skills, and we are very good at preparing young adults for those professional environments. Second, we are well connected to those employers and both understand their needs and are able to satisfy those needs with pre-trained, pre-screened, entry-level talent.

Third, we practice a combination of what we call ‘high support’ and ‘high expectation,’ which is all about ensuring that we provide our young adults with the social and emotional support that they need, while also holding them highly accountable to meet the standards we know they will have to meet in order to be successful in corporate America.”

The future of Year Up Baltimore looks bright. According to statistics from established sites, 84 percent of alumni are employed or attending school full-time within four months of graduating, earning an average wage of $15/hour ($30,000/year for full-time employees).

One hundred percent of qualified students have been placed into internships, and 95 percent of interns meet or exceed partner expectations.

For information about Year Up admissions, partners, making a donation,  alumni services and volunteer opportunities in Baltimore, contact: Lameteria D. Hall, Site Director at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 410-462-7732.

Jayne Matthews-Hopson is a writer and academic advocate. Education Matters because “only the educated are free.” Your thoughts, comments and suggestions are welcomed at: www.baltimoretimes-online.com.

The United States of America owes its birth to European immigrants in pursuit of religious freedom. Yet, the descendants of these same men and women fueled our founding country’s economy with slavery, slaughter and the systematic displacement of Native Americans.