Professor Stephen Kennedy’s new research with INTERGROWTH-21st Project finds human neurodevelopment is not influenced by race
Professor Kennedy is co-director of the OMPHI, Green Templeton
New research from the INTERGROWTH-21st Consortium, jointly led by Green Templeton Governing Body Fellow Professor Stephen Kennedy, has found that human neurodevelopment is not influenced by the colour of an individual’s skin.
The INTERGROWTH-21st Project sought to challenge the assumption that nature is more important than nurture in determining how humans grow and develop in the first 1,000 days of life (from early pregnancy to two years of age).
The latest component of the INTERGROWTH-21st Project, which took seven years to complete, assessed the neurodevelopment of 1,307 healthy two year olds across five countries using a specially developed psychometric tool, WHO developmental milestones and visual tests.
Each of the children was born to a healthy, well-nourished mother, living in a clean, urban environment in Brazil, India, Italy, Kenya or the UK, with access to good healthcare and education. The growth of each child had been monitored during pregnancy with regular ultrasound scans.
The research, jointly led by Professor José Villar, found evidence that “healthy, adequately nourished, well-educated pregnant women, recruited from five diverse geographical and cultural study sites, who receive recommended antenatal care, have children that display consistent similarities at two years of age across a comprehensive set of neurodevelopmental outcomes.”
Professor Kennedy stated that: “Here is the evidence that James Watson, the Nobel Laureate, is seeking that might change his derogatory views on race and intelligence. Our results clearly demonstrate that nurture is considerably more important than nature with respect to human neurodevelopment and physical growth.”
The study, published in Nature Communications, complements previous research by the INTERGROWTH-21st Project, which found that skeletal growth across the first 1,000 days is similarly not influenced by skin colour or geographical location, when mothers have access to adequate nutrition and healthcare.
Full report on the research findings at the University of Oxford website.
Full paper in Nature Communications.
The INTERGROWTH-21st Project, led by the Nuffield Department of Women’s & Reproductive Health at the University of Oxford, is based at the Oxford Maternal & Perinatal Health Institute and supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Professor Kennedy is Head of Department and Professor of Reproductive Medicine at the Nuffield Department of Women’s & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, and Co-Director of Oxford Maternal & Perinatal Health Institute.
The Oxford Maternal & Perinatal Health Institute was founded in 2009 under the aegis of Green Templeton.
