One variable that might affect both the child's bond with parent and the child's well-being later in life is proper nutrition. A healthy diet, generally continually facilitated due to a parent, can cause very important development in a young child. Some foods, such as fast food, may be insufficient to meet a developing child's needs. Then, as the child grows older, he or she may continue with a poor diet that eventually decreases his or her chance of physical and mental well-being later in life.
Of course, this is only one factor, while it's quite likely that a host of such factors wholly contribute to a child's emotional bonding and well-being later in life.
I agree to a certain extent. I think children with improper nutrition are probably more upset and cry more often because they are hungry or feel poorly due to their poor diet. I am not sure about the long lasting effects of this though.
While I think that nutrition is crucial to a happy and healthy lifestyle I do not think it is as applicable in this instance. If anything it would damage the child's self-image and therefore their self-esteem. This could lead to social and psychological damage but diet can be controlled and changed and therefore not a major factor in determining their well-being later in life.
Not to nitpick, but the question was whether this confounding variable (nutrition) could affect a person's "well-being" in the long-term. It seems like most of the criticism of the thread-creator's idea is that good nutrition doesn't directly relate to a person's HAPPINESS. But one could very easily argue that nutrition is a contributing factor in person's overall well-being.
