Background Although the incidence of diarrhea in Indonesia has declined in the last five years, the mortality rate in children under five years old is still high. Therefore, appropriate and comprehensive management of diarrhea is essential. There have been many studies on the role of zinc therapy and probiotic therapy in reducing the severity of acute diarrhea, but not many studies have compared the use of a combination of the two therapies tozinc therapy alone.Objective To compare the efficacy of zinc-probiotic combination therapy to zinc alone in reducing the severity of acute diarrhea.Methods We conducted a randomized, open-label, controlled trial from July 2009 to January 2010 in Adam Malik Hospital and Pirngadi Hospital, Medan. Children aged between 1 month and 5 years who met the criteria were divided into two groups. Group I received zinc sulphate (aged <6 months: 10 mg/day; aged 2:6 months: 20 mg/day) combined with heat-killed Lactobacillus acidophilus (3x101O CFU/day) for 10 days. Group II received only zinc sulphate at the same dosage as group I. Measurement of disease severity was based on the frequency of diarrhea (times/day) and the duration of diarrhea (hours) after initial drug consumption.Results Eighty subjects were enrolled, randomised, and divided equally into two groups. 40 children received zinc-probiotic in combination (group I) and the remainder (group II) received zinc alone. We observed significant differences in frequency of diarrhea (2.1 vs 3.1 times/day, P=0.001, 95%CI -1.62 to -0.49), and duration of diarrhea (52.1 vs. 72.6 hours, P=0.00l, 95%CI -30.91 to -10.18) in the two groups.Conclusion Combination of zinc-probiotic therapy was more effective in reducing the severity of acute diarrhea than zinc therapy alone in children under five years of age.

Background Functional constipation is a common pediatric problem in both developed and developing countries. In the past two decades, the prevalence of obesity has increased worldwide. Obesity itself leads to many health problems, including functional constipation. Studies correlating obesity to functional constipation have thus far mostly originated from developed countries. Objective To assess for a possible correlation between obesity and functional constipation in children in a developing country. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in Al-Mukhlisin Islamic Boarding School, Batu Bara District, North Sumatera Province, Indonesia, between July and August 2015. The subjects were 150 students aged 12 to 17 years. Questionnaires were used to determine functional constipation and filled by direct interview. Obesity was determined by body mass index. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test. Results Of 150 children, 49 had functional constipation; and 18 of the 49 were obese. The mean age of children with constipation was 14.7 (SD 1.07) years (95%CI 14.1 to 14.7) and their mean body weight was 53.8 (SD 15.10) kg (95%CI 49.4 to 58.1). The prevalence for functional constipation in obese children was 58% There was a statistically significant correlation between obesity and functional constipation (prevalence ratio=4; 95%CI 1.72 to 8.94; P=0.001), indicating that obese children had 4 times higher risk of having functional constipation. Conclusion There is a significant correlation between obesity and functional constipation in children. [Paediatr Indones. 2018;58:1-4 ; doi: http://dx

In 1989, oj2350 patients hospitalized in the paediatric ward of Dr. Pirngadi Hospital, Medan, 829 (35.3%) were gastroenteritis cases, with male more than female. Most of the patients with gastroenteritis were found in the age group of under 1 years (521 cases = 62.8%). The highest prevalence was found in january, February and March. Mild, moderate and severe dehydration were encountered in 2. 7%, 83.1% and 14.2% cases respectively. Eighty for (10.1%) cases had been treated with oralit before admission. Only 49. 1% of those patients with gastroenteritis under two years of age were breastfed. The patients of under five year old were 791 (95. 4%) cases; 259 (32. 7%) cases were malnourished. The overall mortality rate of these patients with gastroenteritis was 5.9% ( 49 cases). The age specific mortality rate was highest in the age group of 6- 12 months. Usually patients died with gastroenteritis had complications or associated diseases.

Background Functional dyspepsia is a common gastrointestinal

Background Functional constipation is a common childhood