Maternal Diet and Its Role in Child Neurodevelopmental and Physical Disabilities: A Descriptive Study

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-583-6_16How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Childhood Disability; Descriptive Study; Developmental Outcomes; Maternal Diet; Pregnancy Nutrition

Abstract

The nutrition of the mother in pregnancy is a significant factor that defines the growth and neurodevelopment of the fetus, and future health conditions of the children. Poor or unbalanced nutritional consumption at this critical stage can predispose the risk of physical and neuro-developmental disorders. The presented study is descriptive and investigates the maternal dietary practices and their possible relationship with developmental risks in children based on a comprehensive literature review. The paper dwells on the most important aspects of nutrition, such as the lack of essential micronutrients like folic acid, the lack of iron, the lack of iodine, and the consequences of excesses of vitamin A, caffeine, and high-sugar products. The results of the review show that low folic acid intake is closely linked to neural tube defects, and iron deficiency is closely related to maternal anemia, preterm birth, and poor cognitive growth in children. Iodine deficiency is established as one of the significant causes of intellectual disability, which can be prevented. Also, high levels of unhealthy substances and processed foods are associated with such poor consequences as low birth weight, birth defects, and chronic metabolic disorders. The research argues that a balanced diet for the mother is crucial, and mentions that prenatal nutrition education, community-based programs, and community interventions can play their role in recommending healthy eating behavior. A possible prevention measure that can be used to decrease the prevalence of childhood disabilities and improve the overall developmental outcomes is improving nutritional awareness of mothers and the dietary resources needed to support the healthy development of children.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - K. Umamaheswari
AU  - K. Krishna Veni
AU  - S. Banupriya
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/30
TI  - Maternal Diet and Its Role in Child Neurodevelopmental and Physical Disabilities: A Descriptive Study
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Emerging Food Studies: Intersections of Culture, Science and Sustainability (ICEFS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 177
EP  - 183
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-583-6_16
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-583-6_16
ID  - Umamaheswari2026
ER  -