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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2009 Apr;5(2):159-70.
doi: 10.1111/j.1740-8709.2008.00162.x.

Supplementary feeding with fortified spread among moderately underweight 6-18-month-old rural Malawian children

John Phuka  1 , Chrissie Thakwalakwa, Kenneth Maleta, Yin Bun Cheung, André Briend, Mark Manary, Per Ashorn
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Supplementary feeding with fortified spread among moderately underweight 6-18-month-old rural Malawian children

John Phuka et al. Matern Child Nutr. 2009 Apr.

Abstract

We aimed to analyse growth and recovery from undernutrition among moderately underweight ambulatory children receiving micronutrient-fortified maize-soy flour (Likuni Phala, LP) or ready-to-use fortified spread (FS) supplementary diet. One hundred and seventy-six 6-18-month-old individuals were randomized to receive 500 g LP or 350 g FS weekly for 12 weeks. Baseline and end of intervention measurements were used to calculate anthropometric gains and recovery from underweight, wasting and stunting. Mean weight-for-age increased by 0.22 (95% CI 0.07-0.37) and 0.28 (0.18-0.40) Z-score units in the LP and FS groups respectively. Comparable increase for mean weight-for-length was 0.39 (0.20-0.57) and 0.52 (0.38-0.65) Z-score units. Recovery from underweight and wasting was 20% and 93% in LP group and 16% and 75% in FS group. Few individuals recovered from stunting and mean length-for-age was not markedly changed. There were no statistically significant differences between the outcomes in the two intervention groups. In a poor food-security setting, underweight infants and children receiving supplementary feeding for 12 weeks with ready-to-use FS or maize-soy flour porridge show similar recovery from moderate wasting and underweight. Neither intervention, if limited to a 12-week duration, appears to have significant impact on the process of linear growth or stunting.

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Conflict of interest statement

André Briend was a consultant to Nutriset until December 2003 and the company has also financially supported the planning of another research project by the same study team through Per Ashorn and the University of Tampere after the completion of this trial. Other authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders of trial had no role in the implementation, analysis or reporting.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow of participants. FS, fortified spread; LP, Likuni Phala (maize–soy flour); WAZ, weight‐for‐age Z‐score.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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