Estudio comparativo prospectivo de los efectos de la neuroestimulación cognitiva en niños desnutridos

Abstract

The effects of malnutrition in early childhood have immediate and long-term repercussions on cognitive development. This research aims to estimate the prevalence of brain immaturity as a predictor of learning problems in malnourished children aged 3 to 5 years, through a prospective comparative study with 120 children from the Ángel Polibio Chaves Educational Unit in the Guaranda canton, Bolívar province. The participants were 69 children with mild and/or moderate malnutrition and 51 children without malnutrition. Both groups were followed for 12 months with child neuropsychological assessments. The study group received group cognitive neurostimulation twice a week, teachers were sensitized to motivate children to consume school snacks provided by the Ministry of Education, parents were trained on food hygiene care to prevent infections and, if they existed, to go to the Cordero Crespo medical center for care. In an initial assessment, children with mild and moderate malnutrition show variations in percentiles in the evaluation of the subtests of articulatory language, spatial structuring and attention. After receiving group cognitive neurostimulation twice a week, most children show a notable evolution in the acquisition of skills, however, the deficit remains in some children in language articulation, comprehension and eye-motor coordination.