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Family-based training program improves brain function, cognition, and behavior in lower socioeconomic status preschoolers.

ABSTRACT: Using information from research on the neuroplasticity of selective attention and on the central role of successful parenting in child development, we developed and rigorously assessed a family-based training program designed to improve brain systems for selective attention in preschool children. One hundred forty-one lower socioeconomic status preschoolers enrolled in a Head Start program were randomly assigned to the training program, Head Start alone, or an active control group. Electrophysiological measures of children's brain functions supporting selective attention, standardized measures of cognition, and parent-reported child behaviors all favored children in the treatment program relative to both control groups. Positive changes were also observed in the parents themselves. Effect sizes ranged from one-quarter to half of a standard deviation. These results lend impetus to the further development and broader implementation of evidence-based education programs that target at-risk families.

SUBMITTER: Neville HJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3718115 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Family-based training program improves brain function, cognition, and behavior in lower socioeconomic status preschoolers.

Neville Helen J HJ Stevens Courtney C Pakulak Eric E Bell Theodore A TA Fanning Jessica J Klein Scott S Isbell Elif E

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20130701 29

Using information from research on the neuroplasticity of selective attention and on the central role of successful parenting in child development, we developed and rigorously assessed a family-based training program designed to improve brain systems for selective attention in preschool children. One hundred forty-one lower socioeconomic status preschoolers enrolled in a Head Start program were randomly assigned to the training program, Head Start alone, or an active control group. Electrophysio ...[more]

PMID: 23818591

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Project description:BackgroundHigh intake of added sugar and sodium is a public health concern for preschool-aged children living in the US. Externalizing behavior may predict higher consumption of added sugar and/or sodium; however, previous studies have mostly been cross-sectional. The aim was to evaluate whether externalizing behavior is prospectively related to added sugar and intake in a sex-specific manner among preschoolers.MethodsThis was a secondary analysis of 524 preschool children (48% male) from Michigan who participated in an obesity prevention trial that occurred during one school year from 2011 to 2015. Teacher-assessed externalizing behaviors and three 24-h dietary recalls were completed at baseline and follow-up. We used linear mixed effects regression to evaluate the association between externalizing behavior at baseline and added sugar (% of total Calories) and sodium intake (mg/1000 Calories) at follow-up. In adjusted analysis, we included baseline income-to-needs ratio, child race/ethnicity, and baseline overweight status. All models were adjusted for total energy intake and accounted for clustering by classroom.ResultsBaseline externalizing behavior was positively associated with added sugar intake at follow-up among boys; after adjustment for confounders, every 5 points lower externalizing T-score (corresponding to higher externalizing behavior) was associated with a 0.6 higher percentage of added sugar per total Calories (95% CI 0.2 to 1.1; P value = 0.004). In contrast, girls with higher levels of externalizing behavior had lower consumption of added sugars; after confounder adjustment, every 5 points lower externalizing T-score was related to 0.6 lower percentage intake (95% CI -1.0 to -0.1; P value = 0.01). Baseline externalizing behavior was inversely associated with sodium intake at follow-up among boys. After potential confounder adjustment, for every 5 points lower externalizing behavior T-score, there was a 22 mg/1000 Cal lower sodium intake (95% CI -45 to 1; P value = 0.06). In contrast, after adjustment for confounders, every 5 points lower externalizing T-score among girls was related to 24 mg/1000 Cal higher sodium intake (95% CI 1 to 46; P value = 0.04).ConclusionsExternalizing behavior among preschool-aged children was prospectively related to added sugar and sodium intake in a sex-dependent manner.Trial registrationNCT01398358 Registered 19 July 2011.

Project description:Many studies reported a positive relationship between motor skills, cognitive functions, and school performance in school-age children; however, little is known in preschool children. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of a physical education program (PEP) on locomotor, object control skills, and pre-literacy cognitive functions in a wide population of preschoolers and verify whether weight status could influence these abilities. In the context of the Training-to-Health Project, a sample of 1,029 preschoolers was recruited in kindergartens from the urban area of Palermo (Italy). Their gross motor and pre-literacy skills were tested before (PRE) and after (POST) following 16 weeks (2 h/week) of a PEP, which included ludic-motor activities aimed at developing body awareness and fundamental motor and perceptual-sensory skills. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed to assess the skills before and after the intervention and to evaluate the effect of different categories of weight status on the examined variables. Regression analyses were conducted to confirm the hypothesized interrelationship between motor and pre-literacy skills in the considered sample. Both locomotor/object control and pre-literacy skills were significantly higher in children after the PEP (p < 0.05). We found 23% of overweight children and no significant difference between weight status classes in both PRE and POST PEP groups. In the POST group, higher locomotor and object control skills were mostly associated with better pre-literacy skills. This study shows that PEP was effective in improving both motor and pre-literacy skills in preschoolers independently from age and gender, while weight status did not affect these skills suggesting that this program can be administrated indifferently in children with different categories of weight status. Therefore, PEP could be a decisive education strategy to enhance motor and cognitive learning in preschool children and to achieve successful academic outcomes.

Dataset Information

Family-based training program improves brain function, cognition, and behavior in lower socioeconomic status preschoolers.

Publications

Family-based training program improves brain function, cognition, and behavior in lower socioeconomic status preschoolers.

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