Researchers from the Washington University in St. Louis published their findings in Clinical Nutrition. 163 infants from age 6 -9 months in Ecuador were observed for a year. They compared babies that had an egg a day to babies that did not and the results were conclusive: Eggs are a high quality food that contain 2 substances are vital to cognitive development, choline and omega 3 besides being very high in protein.
The children who had eggs developed better and had 47% less stunting of their growth, a phenomenon Ecuador and other third world countries with hungry populations must unfortunately deal with. Eggs were found to be a good relatively inexpensive intervention to help childhood growth and development and none of those tested had allergic reactions either.
Lora Iannotti who is an associate professor and head author of the study says “that eggs can be affordable and easily accessible. They are also a good source of nutrients for growth and development in young children. Eggs have the potential to contribute to reduced-growth stunting around the world.”
