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Thursday, April 30, 2009
Sadrivaan A and B (The Hilton Istanbul Hotel )
In Bolivia , 23% of children between 6 months and two years of age suffer chronic malnutrition (low height for age). The Ministry of Health is implementing a nutrition program that includes the provision and consumption of a supplementary food produced industrially consisting of pre-cooked flours (rice or maize), multivitamins and minerals, milk and flavorings. The composition of the supplement is formulated for the consumption of children from 6 months to 2 years of age.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of consumption of this supplementary food on the nutritional and health status of children aged 7 to 16 months, living in poor rural areas ofBolivia .
During 6 months, a follow up was conducted on 214 children randomly distributed in two cohorts. The experimental cohort received the supplementary food and instructions for its preparation, while the control one did not. Weight, height and frequency of child diseases were measured monthly.
Results show that the growth trend in height and weight gain were similar in both groups (control and experimental). The nutritional status ranked according to height to age tables did not show significant differences between the start and termination of the intervention. However, regarding the incidence of prevalent diseases (diarrhea, colds and others), results showed significant differences in favor of the experimental group after the fourth month of consumption of the product (68% in the experimental group and 81,5% in the control group).
Findings suggest that consumption of this supplementary food does not have a effect on child growth, but could have a protective effect on health and prevent frequent diseases during the first years of life. This could be a result of the vitamins/minerals supplement (especially zinc and vitamin A) and other components of the supplementary food
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of consumption of this supplementary food on the nutritional and health status of children aged 7 to 16 months, living in poor rural areas of
During 6 months, a follow up was conducted on 214 children randomly distributed in two cohorts. The experimental cohort received the supplementary food and instructions for its preparation, while the control one did not. Weight, height and frequency of child diseases were measured monthly.
Results show that the growth trend in height and weight gain were similar in both groups (control and experimental). The nutritional status ranked according to height to age tables did not show significant differences between the start and termination of the intervention. However, regarding the incidence of prevalent diseases (diarrhea, colds and others), results showed significant differences in favor of the experimental group after the fourth month of consumption of the product (68% in the experimental group and 81,5% in the control group).
Findings suggest that consumption of this supplementary food does not have a effect on child growth, but could have a protective effect on health and prevent frequent diseases during the first years of life. This could be a result of the vitamins/minerals supplement (especially zinc and vitamin A) and other components of the supplementary food
Learning Objectives: Recognize that in contexts where families have access to local foods, the aggregate value of industrial nutritional supplements could not be significant in the growth of children under 2 years of age
Sub-Theme: Poverty, Health and Development: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals