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Intervention study shows suboptimal growth among children receiving a food supplement for five months in a slum in Bangladesh
Author(s) -
Choudhury Nuzhat,
Bromage Sabri,
Alam Md. Ashraful,
Shamsir Ahmed A.M.,
Munirul Islam M.,
Iqbal Hossain M.,
Mahfuz Mustafa,
Mondal Dinesh,
Haque Rashidul,
Ahmed Tahmeed
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.13528
Subject(s) - medicine , environmental health , slum , intervention (counseling) , pediatrics , population , nursing
Aim This study assessed weight and height changes among underweight children who received a locally produced, cereal‐based, ready‐to‐use supplementary food. Methods We recruited 500 underweight Bangladeshi children aged 6–23 months from a Dhaka slum and individually matched them by sex and neighbourhood with 480 well‐nourished controls. The intervention group received the daily food supplement for five months, and both groups received daily micronutrient supplements. Their weight, height, mid‐upper‐arm circumference and head circumference were measured monthly. Results The children's mean daily weight gain decreased from 1.27 to 0.66 grams per kilogram per day (g/kg/day) in the intervention group and 0.77 to 0.49 g/kg/day in the controls after adjusting for age differences between the two groups from baseline to five months of follow‐up. The mean monthly height gain decreased from 1.13 to 1.03 millimetres per metre per month in the intervention children and 1.26 to 1.01 in the controls. The weight gain was highest in the intervention children who were most wasted at baseline and the controls who were least stunted. Conclusion The children showed suboptimal growth despite food supplements, highlighting the need for ongoing research to develop inexpensive, locally sourced food supplements to improve the nutrition of underweight children in Bangladesh.