Nutritional intake of an undernourished infant population receiving an energy and micronutrient supplement in Indonesia

Abstract

Objectives: This paper reports the dietary intake (home, day care centers, supplement and breast milk) of the children in the clinical trial in Pangalengan.

Design: Two cohorts of children were randomly assigned to three treatments: E = 1171 kJ + 12 mg iron; M = 209 kJ + 12 mg iron; S = 104 kJ. Supplementation was given for 12 months.

Setting: The sites were six tea plantations in Pangalengan, West Java.

Subjects: A 12-month-old (n = 53) and an 18-month-old (n = 83) cohort were recruited from day-care-centers. Twenty children who received S belong to the 12- and 18-month-old cohorts. Inclusion criteria were: no chronic disease; length-for-age < or = -1 standard deviation (s.d.) and weight-for-length between -1 and -2 s.d. of the median of the reference of the World Health Organization.

Methods: E = 1171 kJ + 12 mg iron; M = 209 kJ + 12 mg iron; S = 104 kJ. Supplementation was given for 12 months. Evaluations of intake were made at baseline and every 2 months thereafter.

Results: For the 12-month-old cohort the mean increase in daily energy intake approximately 2931 kJ for E, approximately 1675 kJ for M, and approximately 837 kJ increase over the 6 months for the S group. For the 18-month-old cohort the changes were approximately 2512 kJ for E approximately 1675 for the M group and approximately 1047 for the S group.