Malnourishment and Schizophrenia

"A study of a famine in China more than 40 years ago found that children born to severely malnourished women are more likely to develop schizophrenia.

The research bolsters the evidence that environmental factors can trigger the devastating mental illness.

Compared with children born before or after the 1959-61 famine, those born during the disaster faced double the risk of becoming schizophrenic later on.

The results are nearly identical to a previous study of a famine in Holland resulting from a Nazi food blockade toward the end of World War II.

''Since the two populations are ethnically and culturally distinct, the processes involved may apply in all populations undergoing famine,'' the authors said."

Source: The Associated Press August 2, 2005 (via NewYorkTimes.com)

See also http://jama.ama-assn.org/