Nutrition Research Center, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Department of Community Nutrition, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
J Trop Pediatr. 2021 Jan 29;67(1). doi: 10.1093/tropej/fmab007.
Although malnutrition is globally widespread among children, there is no consensus on the most effective intervention for improving a child's growth. The present study is designed to investigate the effects of nutritional support basketson growth indices of malnourished children.
This is a field trial conducted on 3667 malnourished children (0-60 months) for 9months, between 2017 and 2018, in Fars province of Iran. Weight-for-age, height-for-age, weight-for-height and body mass index-for age indices were assessed before and after the intervention with nutritional support baskets, which contains 600 kcal/day.
The baseline prevalence of moderate/severeunderweight, stunting and wasting were 31.5%, 33.3% and 28.9%, respectively. After the intervention, the prevalence non-significantly reduced to 25.5%, 31.7% and 20.35%, respectively (p > 0.05). The intervention is associated with a non-significant reduction in the prevalence of underweight and wasting in 0-23 months children, and a non-significant reduction in the prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting in 24-60 months children. Furthermore, the intervention is associated with a non-significant reduction in the prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting in girls, and a non-significant reduction in the prevalence of underweight and wasting in boys.
Nutrition support was effective in improving malnutrition indices of children; however, the results were non-significant. Further studies with longer period and control group areneeded to support the effectiveness of nutrition support in children.
尽管营养不良在全球范围内普遍存在于儿童中，但对于改善儿童生长的最有效干预措施仍未达成共识。本研究旨在调查营养支持篮对营养不良儿童生长指标的影响。
这是一项于 2017 年至 2018 年在伊朗法尔斯省进行的为期 9 个月的 3667 名（0-60 个月）营养不良儿童的现场试验。在干预前和干预后（包含 600 千卡/天的营养支持篮），评估了体重与年龄、身高与年龄、体重与身高和年龄与体重指数等生长指标。
基线时中重度消瘦、发育迟缓、消瘦的患病率分别为 31.5%、33.3%和 28.9%。干预后，患病率分别非显著降低至 25.5%、31.7%和 20.35%（p>0.05）。干预与 0-23 个月儿童中消瘦和消瘦的患病率非显著降低相关，与 24-60 个月儿童中消瘦、发育迟缓和消瘦的患病率非显著降低相关。此外，干预与女孩中消瘦、发育迟缓和消瘦的患病率非显著降低相关，与男孩中消瘦和消瘦的患病率非显著降低相关。
营养支持有助于改善儿童的营养不良指标；然而，结果不显著。需要进一步开展研究时间更长、设对照组的研究，以支持营养支持对儿童的有效性。
