Peter Österberg, PhD: ADHD (executive dysfunction). The effect of discriminated father-child relationship is complemented by malnutrition

The debate about whether ADHD (executive dysfunction) should be explained by nature or nurture (early childhood conditions) has been going on for some time. Coincidentally, there's been a steep rise in prevalence of executive dysfunction which is unlikely from a biological (nature) perspective. I belong to those who believe that executive dysfunction is mainly explained by home conditions during the first years of life. There is a known effect of discriminated father-child relationship on executive dysfunction (ADHD), which can be complemented by malnutrition. See three articles.

Please support the blog via Wise.

The debate about whether ADHD (executive dysfunction) should be explained by nature or nurture (early childhood conditions) has been going on for some time. Coincidently, there's been a steep rise in prevalence of executive dysfunction which is unlikely to be explained by nature. I belong to those who believe that a better way to explain executive dysfunction is nurture, that is, what happens during the first 4-5 years of life at home. And there's known father-effect on the opposite of executive dysfunction, that is, the adjustment, development, and unpacking of the executive functions (Ardila, 2008; Ardila et al. 2018; Barkley, 2001; Baumrind, 1966; Elliott, 2003; Rolle et al. 2019; Sethna et al. 2017; Vieno et al. 2009, 2014).

“A review of 28 studies on the effects of father absence on children's cognitive ability (Shinn, 1978) indicates that father absence as a function of divorce is negatively related to children's intellectual competence; this has also been demonstrated in previous studies (Blanchard & Biller, 1971; Crescimbeni, 1965; Ferri, 1976; Hetherington et al., 1978, 1982; Radin, 1976; Radin et al., 1994; Santrock, 1972; Sutton–Smith et al., 1978). Shinn (1978) believes that the results of the review are consistent with the hypothesis that children's interaction with their parents forms a platform for cognitive development, and that a reduction in this interaction inhibits cognitive development” (Österberg, 2004, p. 2.; translated from Swedish via Google translate).

But nurture is also what you feed your kids during those years. I have done some research on nutrition psychology (Österberg, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), and believe that malnutrition, as part of nurture, explains some of the variance in the model. The human brain, like the body, needs a plethora of vitamins (A, B-complex, C, several D:s, E, and K2), minerals (Calcium, Chromium, Chloride, Cobalt, Copper, Fluoride, heme-Iron, Iodine, Manganese, Magnesium, Molybdenum, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, , Sulfur, Zinc, Selenium, to mention some of them), tryptophan, Choline, as well as DHA- and EPA-fats, to enable the mind to operate in a proper way (Balehegn et al. 2019; Lustig, 2017; Österberg, 2020, 2023; Poitelon et al. 2020; Smith, 2019).

Yesterday, this came to my attention on Facebook, claiming that malnutrition play that role in ADHD.