Department of Public Health, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan.
Department of Community Medicine, Federal Medical and Dental College, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Aug 27;18(17):9060. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18179060.
The objective of this study was to assess whether the standard therapy of ready-to-use therapeutic food in the treatment of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is effective in improving developmental potential and weight gain in children aged under five years. A multicenter pretest-posttest study was conducted among 91 children aged under five with uncomplicated SAM in Pakistan. Study participants completed their eight weeks' therapy of ready-to-use therapeutic food according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) standard guidelines. The study outcome was the proportion of children with improved developmental potential in all domains in comparison with the pretreatment status and children gaining >15% of their baseline weight; mean weight-for-height/length z-score after completing eight weeks' therapy of ready-to-use therapeutic food. The Denver Development Screening Tool II was used for developmental screening. Significant changes ( < 0.05) were observed for developmental status milestones in terms of gross motor, fine motor, and personal/social milestones, as well as language and global development milestones. There was a strong positive correlation (r = 0.961) between initial weight and weight at the last visit ( < 0.001). Ready-to-use therapeutic food is effective in improving development potential as well as promoting weight gain in children aged under five with uncomplicated SAM if provided according to WHO guidelines.
本研究旨在评估在治疗无并发症严重急性营养不良 (SAM) 时，标准疗法——即即食治疗性食品，是否能有效改善五岁以下儿童的发育潜力和体重增长。在巴基斯坦，一项多中心的预-后测试研究纳入了 91 名患有无并发症 SAM 的五岁以下儿童。研究参与者根据世界卫生组织 (WHO) 的标准指南完成了为期八周的即食治疗性食品治疗。研究结果是与治疗前相比，所有领域发育潜力提高的儿童比例，以及体重增加超过其基线体重 15%的儿童比例；完成八周即食治疗性食品治疗后，体重与身高/长度的比值的平均体重指数。采用丹佛发育筛查工具 II 进行发育筛查。在粗大运动、精细运动和个人/社会里程碑以及语言和全面发育里程碑方面，发育状况里程碑都有显著变化（<0.05）。初始体重与最后一次就诊时的体重之间存在很强的正相关关系（r = 0.961）（<0.001）。如果按照世卫组织的指南提供，即食治疗性食品对改善五岁以下患有无并发症 SAM 的儿童的发育潜力和促进体重增长是有效的。
