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.

Background Obesity can result in emotional and behavior problems in school-age children. Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) is a standard instrument for evaluating behavior problems, however it is considered not practical. The 17-item Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-17) is a more simple instrument but its diagnostic value has never been evaluated in obese children.Objectives To evaluate the diagnostic value of PSC-17 compared to CBCL as the gold standard.Methods This cross-sectional study was done in May - June 2009. Children aged 6-12 years with obesity were included. Parents filled the CBCL and PSC-17 questionnaires. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios were calculated for PSC-17.Results Most subjects aged 6-9 years (83%). Boys out numbered girls. Emotional and behavior problems detected by CBCL and PSC-17 were identified in 28% and 22% subjects, respectively. The most common problem was internalization (withdrawal, somatic complaints, anxiety/depression). The PSC-17 had sensitivity and specificity of 69.2% and 95.6% respectively. Positive and negative predictive values were 85.7% and 89%, whereas positive and negative likelihood ratios were 15.7 and 0.32.Conclusions The prevalence of emotional and behavior problems detected using CBCL and PSC-17 in obese children was 28% and 22%, respectively. The PSC-17 has moderate sensitivity to screen emotional and behavior problem in obese children.[Paediatr Indones. 2010;50:42-8].

Children with intellectual disability (ID) and poor vision show limitations in adaptive functioning. This is influenced by their intellectual impairment and poor eye function. They need support to carry out everyday activities. Therefore, mastery of self-help skills is very important for their independence. They require special support to master these skills. Self-help skills consist of many abilities, such as buttoning skills, which is one skill set required for dressing. Buttoning skills comprise a complex behavior chain that consists of a stepped sequence. To master these skills, children must know every step of buttoning in order, then master each step, and do it in sequence. Thus, buttoning can be trained by using a backward chaining technique. This technique breaks down the skills into a chain of simple steps so that children find it easier to master. Children begin training at the final step, which is the easiest step in the chain. They are taught to master all the steps completely. This study evaluated the effectiveness of backward chaining to improve buttoning skills in a child with ID and poor vision. Eight sessions of the intervention were conducted over eight days. Results revealed the backward chaining technique was effective at improving the child's independent buttoning skills.

Studies on normal children's and adolescents' use of intervention techniques to reduce screen media usage have recently gained much attention. However, studies on screen time reduction intervention in children with developmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), have been scarce. Compared to the typical population, children with ASD spend more time on screen media and are thus at greater risk of its physical and psychological consequences. This paper aimed to investigate the effectiveness of behavior modification techniques, specifically antecedent control and differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors (DRA), in reducing screen time for an adolescent male aged 12 years and 9 months with mild ASD. Previous research on normally developed children showed inconsistent results on the application of these techniques. In this study, technique effectiveness was evaluated by collecting and comparing pretreatment and post-treatment data. The results showed that both techniques could reduce participants' screen time duration by 55%.

Abstrak. Konstipasi merupakan masalah yang sering dijumpai pada anak-anak. Anak dengan masalah konstipasi seringkali merasa sakit pada saat buang air besar (BAB) sehingga berupaya untuk menghindari proses BAB di toilet. Hal ini berdampak terhadap kemampuan toilet training anak. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji efektivitas program intervensi dengan teknik modifikasi perilaku antecedent control untuk meningkatkan frekuensi buang air besar di toilet pada anak dengan masalah konstipasi. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode single case subject A-B with follow-up design dengan partisipan penelitian adalah seorang anak perempuan berusia 3 tahun 4 bulan yang mengalami konstipasi.  Penelitian ini dilakukan sebanyak 8 sesi dan berlangsung selama 40 menit setiap sesi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa teknik antecedent control dapat meningkatkan frekuensi perilaku buang air besar di toilet pada anak dengan masalah konstipasi.Kata kunci: antecedent control, buang air besar, konstipasi, toilet training,Abstract. Constipation is common problem in children. Children who have constipation problems often feel pain during defecation, thus they are attempting to avoid the process of defecation in the toilet. It has an impact on the ability of children's toilet training. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of intervention programs through behavior modification techniques, antecedent control to increase the frequency of bowel movements in the toilet for children who have constipation problems. This study uses a single case subject AB with follow-up design which is a girl aged 3 years and 4 months who has constipation problems. This research was conducted in 8 sessions and lasted for 40 minutes each session. The result shows that antecedent control technique can increase the bowel movement for children who have constipation problems.Keywords: antecedent control, defecation, constipation, toilet training