How Is Children's Gross Motor Development Related To Nutrition?

Children need adequate nutrition not only to grow but also to meet gross motor developmental milestones such as crawling and walking. While nutritional deficits occur more commonly in developing countries than in the United States, lack of protein in the diet as well as poor iron intake and anemia can both impact childhood gross motor development.

Calorie Intake

Children between the ages of 3 and 12 months need 100 calories per kilogram per day for optimal growth, according to the University of Chicago. Marasmus, a lack of calories that leads to a decrease in body weight to 60 percent or less of normal, can cause permanent neurological damage. Neurological damage can affect gross motor abilities. Infants who weigh less than they should may also suffer from muscle weakness, which prevents them from meeting developmental milestones.

Protein Needs

Children need 10 percent of their calories from protein, the University of Chicago explains. Diets that supply just slightly under the normal number of calories but contain a lower-than-normal protein intake can cause kwashiorkor. Kwashiorkor commonly occurs in developing areas where infants are weaned too early and put on low-protein solid food. Like marasmus, kwashiorkor can cause muscle weakness as well as permanent brain damage from lack of protein. In an Emory University study published in the December 2004 issue of the "Journal of Nutrition," researchers found that growth in length and weight in the first year along with protein intake correlated with earlier walking in Guatemalan children.

Iron Levels

Iron, carried in the hemoglobin in red blood cells, carries oxygen throughout the body. Most children have adequate iron stores for the first 4 to 6 months after birth as long as their mothers were not severely anemic. Inadequate iron intake after this point may cause brain damage that affects motor skills as well as social and developmental skills. A University of Michigan study reported in the December 2006 issue of "Human Movement Science" reported that children in Costa Rica with severe iron deficiency in infancy had decreased motor skills in infancy that improved but did not catch up to normal levels throughout childhood.

Considerations

Poor nutrition can affect the neurological and physical development of children for years afterward. Children with kwashiorkor, or low protein levels, may recover more quickly with adequate diet than children with marasmus, according to the Merck Manual.