TY - JOUR
T1 - A combined dietary and cognitive intervention in 3–5-year-old children in Indonesia
T2 - A randomized controlled trial
AU - Schneider, Nora
AU - Geiser, Eveline
AU - Gosoniu, Laura M.
AU - Wibowo, Yulianti
AU - Gentile-Rapinett, Gertrude
AU - Tedjasaputra, Mayke S.
AU - Sastroasmoro, Sudigdo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2018/10/1
Y1 - 2018/10/1
N2 - Early childhood nutritional interventions typically combine nutritional and psychosocial stimulation. Such combined interventions result in long-lasting improvements of cognitive abilities in children who are malnourished. Here, we investigated potential cognitive abilities in normally developing children in Indonesia who were, however, at risk for suboptimal cognitive development due to little psychosocial stimulation in their home environment. In a randomized controlled intervention, children of the experimental group received nutritional supplementation combined with cognitive stimulation. Pre-and post-intervention measurements included cognitive development and functioning, behavior, and mother–child interaction. The experimental and control group received nutritional supplementation in the form of a fortified or unfortified milk powder, respectively. Additionally, the children and parents of the experimental group jointly engaged in daily learning activities at home and performed iPad-based tasks designed to foster cognitive abilities. The experimental group compared to the control group displayed a significantly higher increase in intelligence quotient as well as a significantly larger reduction in attentional problems after the intervention. These results indicate that low-level cognitive stimulation in combination with nutritional supplementation during early childhood can be an effective intervention that improves global cognitive functioning in healthy developing children. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02359669.
AB - Early childhood nutritional interventions typically combine nutritional and psychosocial stimulation. Such combined interventions result in long-lasting improvements of cognitive abilities in children who are malnourished. Here, we investigated potential cognitive abilities in normally developing children in Indonesia who were, however, at risk for suboptimal cognitive development due to little psychosocial stimulation in their home environment. In a randomized controlled intervention, children of the experimental group received nutritional supplementation combined with cognitive stimulation. Pre-and post-intervention measurements included cognitive development and functioning, behavior, and mother–child interaction. The experimental and control group received nutritional supplementation in the form of a fortified or unfortified milk powder, respectively. Additionally, the children and parents of the experimental group jointly engaged in daily learning activities at home and performed iPad-based tasks designed to foster cognitive abilities. The experimental group compared to the control group displayed a significantly higher increase in intelligence quotient as well as a significantly larger reduction in attentional problems after the intervention. These results indicate that low-level cognitive stimulation in combination with nutritional supplementation during early childhood can be an effective intervention that improves global cognitive functioning in healthy developing children. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02359669.
KW - Cognitive development
KW - Cognitive stimulation
KW - Fortification
KW - Growing up milk
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054054293&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/nu10101394
DO - 10.3390/nu10101394
M3 - Article
C2 - 30275398
AN - SCOPUS:85054054293
SN - 2072-6643
VL - 10
JO - Nutrients
JF - Nutrients
IS - 10
M1 - 1394
ER -
