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By - Danone Nutricia academy
Highlights :
All nutrients are essential for brain development and function in young children. Micronutrients like minerals, vitamins, and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), are mainly associated with cognitive development. An inadequate supply of these nutrients results in undernutrition in young kids, which can further lead to impaired cognitive skills.
This Journal Watch summarizes a study entitled “A Combined Dietary and Cognitive Intervention in 3-5-Year-Old Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” published in the journal Nutrients.1
Adequate diet and psychosocial stimulation are essential for good cognitive growth. Unfortunately, the lack of both these factors in developing nations results in poor cognitive potential in children below the age of five. Several studies report that nutritional and psychosocial interventions at preschool age can have cognitive benefits. However, the study population in these reports is malnourished and/or stunted kids. Therefore, in this study, the researchers determined the impact of a combined nutritional and low-level psychosocial stimulation on the cognitive skills of healthy preschool Indonesian kids.
To assess the cognitive benefits of intervention with nutritional and psychosocial stimulation in healthy children having low psychosocial stimulation and low educational background.
Experimental
design2
| Parameter | Test / Method | Time-point | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | Two months | Four months | Six months | ||
| Growth | Weight, Height | ā | ā | ā | ā |
| Nutritional status | Hydroxyproline index | ā | ā | ||
| Cognitive development | Ages and Stages Questionnaire, 3rd edition (ASQ-3) | ā | ā | ā | ā |
| Stimulation/ play time of the parent with the child outside of the intervention | Custom-made parental diary | ā | ā | ā | ā |
| Cognitive abilities | Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, 4th edition (WPPSI-IV), adapted | ā | ā | ||
| Child behavior | Child Behavior Checklist for 1.5ā5 years (CBCL 1.5ā5)- Parental report | ā | ā | ||
| Motherāchild-interaction | Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO) | ā | ā | ||
| Dietary intake | 1-day, 24-h Dietary recall | ā | ā | ||
Figure 1. Differences in cognitive abilities and child behavior between the experimental and the control groups after six months of intervention. (a) Full-scale IQ composite score from WPPSI-IV (b) Attention problems from CBCL 1.5ā5- parental reports. Data are represented as LS mean Ā± standard error. (WPPSI-IV: Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, 4th edition; CBCL: Child Behavior Checklist)
After six months of intervention with nutritional and psychosocial stimulation, the preschool kids showed a significant improvement in their intelligence quotient and a significant decrease in attention-related problems. Thus, nutritional supplements combined with low-intensity cognitive stimulation can be an efficient intervention to enhance overall cognitive function in healthy developing children.
CVM code: 1661837053339
