Effects of egg as an early complementary food on growth of 6- to 9-month-old infants: a randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of daily egg consumption for six months on linear growth (primary outcome), weight-for-age, weight-for-length, mid-upper arm circumference-for-age, head circumference-for-age Z-scores, gross motor milestones development, anaemia and iron status (secondary outcomes) in a low socioeconomic community. PARTICIPANTS: Infants aged 6 to 9 months living in the peri-urban Jouberton area, in the Matlosana Municipality, South Africa. DESIGN: A randomised controlled trial with a parallel design was implemented. Eligible infants were randomly allocated to the intervention (n 250) receiving one egg/day and the control group (n 250) receiving no intervention. The participants were visited weekly to monitor morbidity and gross motor development, with information on adherence collected for the intervention group. Trained assessors took anthropometric measurements, and a blood sample was collected to assess anaemia and iron status. There was blinding of the anthropometric assessors to the groups during measurements and the statistician during the analysis. RESULTS: Baseline prevalence of stunting, underweight, wasting, overweight and anaemia was 23·8 %, 9·8 %, 1·2 %, 13·8 % and 29·2 %, respectively, and did not differ between groups. Overall, 230 and 216 participants in the intervention and control groups completed the study, respectively. There was no intervention effect on length-for-age, weight-for-age, weight-for-length Z-scores, gross motor milestone development, anaemia and iron status. CONCLUSIONS: Daily egg intake did not affect linear growth, underweight, wasting, motor milestones development, anaemia and iron status. Other interventions are necessary to understand the effect of animal-source food intake on children's growth and development. This trial was registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ (NCT05168085).

Association between maternal postpartum depressive symptoms, socioeconomic factors, and birth outcomes with infant growth in South Africa.

This study aimed to investigate the association between maternal postpartum depressive symptoms, household demographic, socioeconomic, and infant characteristics with infant physical growth, and how these factors correlate to determine latent factors. This study was based on the baseline data of a 6-month randomised controlled trial aimed at providing an egg a day to infants aged 6 to 9-months from a low socioeconomic community in South Africa. Information collected on household demographic, socioeconomic, and infant characteristics was by face-to-face structured interviews, and trained assessors took anthropometric measurements. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to assess maternal postpartum depressive symptoms. The analysis was based on 428 mother-infant pairs. Total EPDS score and its subscales score were not associated with stunting or underweight risk. However, a three- to four-fold increased risk of stunting and underweight, respectively was observed for premature birth. Low birthweight was associated with an estimated six-fold increased risk of underweight and stunting. Being female was associated with about 50% reduced risk of stunting and underweight. In conclusion, more robust studies are needed to substantiate these findings, with more awareness creation on the consequences of LBW and prematurity on the physical growth of infants from resource-limited settings.