Intervention study shows suboptimal growth among children receiving a food supplement for five months in a slum in Bangladesh.

ABSTRACT:

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 differ

SUBMITTER: Choudhury N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5478922 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature