BACKGROUND:Timely and scientific food supplement or fortified food could promote intellectual development.Xinjiang is located in the westem part of China where inhabited by minority nationalities.Ethnic minorities have their own unique lifestyle and dietary habits.Whether their unique ways will affect infant and child nutrition requires further study.OBJECTIVE:Through investigating the nutrition and intellectual development of 454 infants and children from Uygur,Han,Kazak nationality,to recognize the factors affecting intellectual development of children.DESIGN:Sample investigation.SETTING:Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene,College of Public Health,Xinjiang Medical University.PARTICIPANTS:Totally 454 infants and children from Tulufan,Urumqi and Hutubi where inhabited by Uygur,Han,Kazak nationality were enrolled in the investigation from May 2004 to April 2005 after obtaining their family members'agreement.METHODS:The method was that one card for one people in the 454 infants and children,and the questionnaires included linking index,the social factors related to intellectual development,prandium history,the kinds and timing of supplementary food added,the timing to add supplementary food and so on.Denver Developmental Screening Test was used to measure the intellectual ability.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:The kinds and timing of supplementary food added,feeding patterns,mean score of intelligence in infants and children.RESULTS:Among the 454 included infants and children,12 were dropped out,because of unqualified data,so 442 were involved in the result analysis.①Adding supplementary food:Kazaks took milk product as dominant food,and meat.vegetables and fruits were added after one year old. Ugyurs took a little meat as main food,while the Hans took eggs and grains as dominant food.②Comparison of timing to add supplementary food:Mean timing to add supplementary food were 6.87, 5.40 and 8.17 months in Uygur,Han, Kazak nationality, respectively,and there were significant differences (F=14.62,P<0.01).③Intellectual development:The score of the three national infantile intellectual ability test was that:Hans>Uygurs>Kazaks,only when over 24 months year old Kazaks>Uygurs.There were significant differences (P<0.01).④Effect of different feeding ways and timing to add supplementary food on the development of intellectual ability:The earlier the timing to add supplementary food,the higher the score was (P<0.05).There was no significant difference in intelligent score of infants and children of different feeding ways (P>0.05).CONCLUSION:It is good for the development of intellectual ability that parents improve the lactating mother,infantile nutritional condition and add supplementary food(weaning food)in early age.

AIM: To review the findings of animalistic experiments and clinical trials about the folic acid, zinc, iodine, selenium and pregnant health, and make clear about the important effect of folic acid, zinc, iodine and selenium on pregnant health.METHODS:Using computer following websites were searched: www.xjmu.edu.cn/lib/lib.htm springerlink.lib.tsinghua.edu.cn with the key words of"folic acid, zinc, iodine, selenium and pregnant health" published from 1996 to 2006.Simultaneously, the correlated magazines and the books were manually retrieved to collect the correlated articles about the micronutrients and health of pregnant women, including findings of animal experiments and clinical trials.RESULTS: Full-texts of the collected articles of folic acid, zinc, iodine and selenium with pregnant health were searched.On the basis of choice and analysis, the repetition or the similar researches were excluded. Finally 16 literatures were refined to carry on the classified reorganization for review. Due to the needs of the growth and development of fetus, the requirement of micronutrient of pregnant women was increasing. If nutritional supplement was inadequate this time, it would result in the deficiency of nutrients, which would increase the occurrence of harmful pregnant outcome. Folic acid belonged to Vitamin B was the termini generales of the compounds those had pterolyglutamic acid. In vivo, the activity pattern was tetrahydrofolic acid. It played an important role as one carbon unit in biosynthesis in vivo. The typical clinical manifestation of famine of folic acid was megaloblastic anaemia. For the mother lacked of folate, the abnormity rate of neural tube of their children manifestly raised up. Accordingly anencephaly, dropsy of brain and cleft spine occurred. It was one of the main reasons of abortion, perinatal infant, infant death and permanent disability. Sufficient quantum of zinc could promote the growth and development of fetus, and it was very important in the formation of organ in early duration of pregnancy. Animal experiments discovered that sufficient zinc of pregnant women could promote the growth and development of fetus and prevent congenital deformity. Short.or high of zinc could influence the synthesis of protein and nucleinic acid. Because of the phytate in dietary, the absorption rate of zinc declined. If the pregnant women lacked of iodine, it also might injury the fetal development, causing the neonatus' growth injury, espeoially nerve and muscle. It might cause low cognitive ability and increased the mortality in embryonic stage and perinatal stage. Therefore, pregnant women should be guided to raise iodine nutrition. Meanwhile, pregnant women lacked of iodine should be also guided to sume Operand.CONCLUSION: Pregnant women should adjust dietary pattern during gestational period, increase the intakes of micronutrients, such as folic acid, zinc, iodine, selenium and so on. In that way, it can prevent the occurrence of harmful pregnant outcome and benefit to aristogenesis.