Impact of solid and liquid supplements on weight gain and appetite of children between 5 to 10 years

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
It has been shown that solid ready-to-use food supplements are very effective in treating severe malnutrition in developing countries. They promote weight gain and increase in energy intake, which is higher when compared to changes caused by drinking medicinal high-energy milk-based drinks. However, their efficiency in treating moderate/mild malnutrition remains unknown. This study aims to compare the efficiency of high-energy, nutritional, solid, ready-to-eat supplements and liquid, milk-based supplements on the weight gain of children

Who can participate?
Children aged between 5-10 years with mild to moderate malnutrition from the participating primary schools.

What does the study involve?
School children will be randomly selected and then height and weight measurements will be taken. Children with mild to moderate malnutrition will be invited to participate in the study. The children will be randomly allocated to receive either solid ready-to-use food (Plumpy’ Nut) or liquid ready-to-use supplement (Fortini, Nutricia). Children will be given these supplements in their school for four weeks and will be asked to consume the supplements in addition to their usual diet. The children will be asked to keep the empty bottles/sachet of the supplements with them after drinking/eating, which will be collected by the main researcher next day in order to check the compliance. Any leftover in the bottle or sachet will be recorded. Height, weight, biceps and triceps skin folds and mid-upper-arm circumference of the child will be measured before the supplementation, two weeks after starting the supplementation and at the end of the supplementation. The child will fill in an appetite questionnaire before taking the first and the last supplement. Further, the parent/carer will be requested to attend a focus group regarding the appetite of their child once before the start of supplementation and once at the end of the study. At the end of the study, the children who were screened and did not meet the criteria for recruitment will be measured for height and weight.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There will be no major benefits or risk of participating. The parent/carer may benefit by finding out about their child’s body measurements and receive information regarding their child’s nutritional status before and after supplementation. As dietary counselling is a fundamental and effective part of the treatment of mild to moderate malnutrition, the parent/carer will get some counselling on the completion of the study. There might be a risk of allergic reaction from the peanut butter used in the preparation of solid ready-to-use food. However, an allergic reaction will be rare as peanuts are part of the traditional diet of the participants and the eligible children and their parents will be asked to complete a health questionnaire.

Where is the study run from?
The study is run from primary schools of Abbottabad district located in the Hazara region of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan.

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
The study will start in March 2014 and is expected to be completed by August 2014.

Who is funding the study?
University of Glasgow, UK.

Who is the main contact?
Dr Konstantinos Gerasimidis, Konstantinos.Gerasimidis@glasgow.ac.uk
Professor Charlotte Wright, charlotte.wright@glasgow.ac.uk
Dr Sadia Fatima, s.fatima.1@research.gla.ac.uk ‎

Contact information

Study information

Eligibility

Locations

Countries of recruitment

• United Kingdom
• Scotland
• Pakistan

Study participating centre

Results and Publications

Study outputs

Editorial Notes

13/09/2019: Publication reference and total final enrolment added.