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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2018 Oct 1;10(10):1394.
doi: 10.3390/nu10101394.

A Combined Dietary and Cognitive Intervention in 3⁻5-Year-Old Children in Indonesia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Nora Schneider  1 , Eveline Geiser  2 , Laura M Gosoniu  3 , Yulianti Wibowo  4 , Gertrude Gentile-Rapinett  5 , Mayke S Tedjasaputra  6 , Sudigdo Sastroasmoro  7
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

A Combined Dietary and Cognitive Intervention in 3⁻5-Year-Old Children in Indonesia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Nora Schneider et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: cognitive development; cognitive stimulation; fortification; growing up milk.

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Conflict of interest statement

N.S., E.G., Y.W., L.M.G., and G.G.-R. are employees of Nestec Ltd. M.S.T. and S.S. received as professional fee from Nestec Ltd.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Design of the randomized intervention study and summary of assessments taken at all time-points and at baseline and V3, respectively.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cognitive and behavioral differences between experimental and control groups expressed as change from baseline after the 6-month intervention. (a) Full-scale IQ composite score and (b) attentional problems are plotted separately for the experimental and the control groups. Error bars reflect standard errors.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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