ABSTRACT
Objective:To observe the role of yogurt containing 2 type of Bifidobacterias in improving the intestinal comfort in children. Methods:A 4-week, single-arm, non-randomized study was conducted from October 23, 2021 to November 21, 2021, in which, healthy children aged 3-6 years in real life were provided with commercially available children′s yogurt supplemented with Bifidobacteriumlactis BL-99 and Bifidobacterium infantis YLGB-1496.The questionnaire on gastrointestinal symptoms in children and the Patient-Oriented SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (PO-SCORAD) index were used to evaluate the intestinal comfort and skin sensitivity changes at baseline, week 1, week 2, and week 4, respectively. Kruskal- Wallis rank sum test was used for comparison at different time points. Results:A total of 39 children, involving 20 boys and 19 girls with the median age of 5.0 years completed the study.There were significant differences in intestinal comfort score and PO-SCORAD scores, distribution of stool consistency and night awakening frequency at different time points (baseline, week 1, week 2 and week 4) (all P<0.05). The total score of intestinal comfort at week 2 and 4 was 12.0 (10.0, 13.0) points and 10.0 (9.0, 10.0) points, which was significantly lower than that at baseline[17.0 (15.0, 21.0) points, P<0.05]. The total score of intestinal comfort at week 4 was significantly lower than that at week 1[13.0 (11.0, 15.0)points] and week 2 (all P<0.05). At week 4, all children had an ideal stool consistency (type 3-4). At week 4, 33 (84.6%) of the children woke up 0 times, and 6 (15.4%) of the children woke up once or twice.The PO-SCORAD scores at week 1, 2 and 4 were 10.2 (6.5, 14.7) points, 8.2 (5.5, 14.2) points and 5.5 (4.5, 9.0) points, respectively, which were all significantly lower than that at baseline[18.3 (11.6, 25.3) points, all P<0.05]. The total PO-SCORAD score at week 4 was significantly lower than that at week 1 ( P<0.05). Conclusions:After eating yoghurt supplemented with Bifidobacteriumlactis BL-99 and Bifidobacterium infantis YLGB-1496 for 4 weeks, the children′s intestinal comfort and stool consistency, night awakening and skin sensitivity are improved.
ABSTRACT
Objective@#To observe and compare the effects of two standards on the overweight trend in urban Shanghai infants and young children.@*Methods@#A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in 19 communities in two districts of Shanghai, and the subjects (n=15 019) were divided into S-group and W-group by sealed envelope randomization. The subjects were newborns born between November 2013 and December 2014. The 2005 Shanghai growth standard was applied in the S-group and the 2006 WHO growth standard was used in the W-group. At each follow-up time point age of 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12 and 18 months, the outpatient physician assessed the length and weight of the infants according to the standard adopted by each group and provided feeding guidance. The weight-for-age Z scores (WAZ), length-for-age Z scores (LAZ) and weight-for-length Z scores (WLZ) were calculated according to the WHO standard. Weight, length, WAZ, LAZ, WLZ and overweight ratio (WLZ≥2) were compared between the two groups using t test, Wilcoxon test and χ2 test.@*Results@#A total of 6 509 infants (3 391 were boys, 3 118 were girls) were in the W-group, and 8 510 infants (4 374 were boys, 4 136 were girls) were in the S-group. Among the boys, the weight values at the age of 4, 6, 9, 12, 18 months in the W-group were all lower than those in the S-group ((7.5±0.8) vs. (7.7±0.8) kg, (8.6±0.8) vs. (8.7±0.8) kg, (9.6±0.9) vs. (9.7±0.9) kg, (10.4±1.0) vs. (10.5±1.0) kg, (11.5±1.1) vs.(11.7±1.1) kg; t=4.329, 2.422, 3.739, 2.451, 2.736; P<0.01, 0.015,<0.01, 0.014, 0.009). The length had no significant difference between two groups at all months of age(all P>0.05). The overweight ratio in the W-group was lower than that in the S-group at the age of 9, 12, 18 months(3.3% (71/2 170) vs. 4.9% (143/2 927), 2.5% (51/2 037) vs. 4.5% (126/2 818), 0.8% (7/832) vs. 3.1% (39/1 266); χ2=6.520, 14.209, 12.350; P=0.011,<0.01,<0.01).Among the girls, except at the age of 2 months (W-group (5.6±0.6) vs. S-group (5.7±0.6), t=2.935, P=0.003), weight values had no significant difference between the two groups at other age months (all P>0.05).The length in the W-group was higher than that in the S-group at 12 and 18 months of age ((75.6±2.4) vs.(75.5±2.3)cm, (82.4±2.9) vs.(82.2±2.7) cm; t=2.351, 2.197; P=0.019, 0.028). The ratio of overweight in the W-group was lower than that of S-group at the age of 12 and 18 months (1.8% (33/1 871) vs.3.0% (80/2 658), 0.6% (5/790) vs.1.7% (20/1 178); χ2=6.764,4.276; P=0.009, 0.039).@*Conclusions@#The application of WHO growth standard can help to reduce the weight gain rate of boys, promote the linear growth of girls, and thus alleviate the overweight trend of infants within 18 months. It suggested that 2006 WHO growth standard should be applied to infants within 1 year of age in Shanghai.