ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine acceptability and feeding practices associated with different supplementary food items and identify practices associated with weight gain. METHODS: Caregivers (n = 409) whose children had been enrolled in a trial comparing a fortified corn-soy blended flour (CSB++), soy ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF), and soy/whey RUSF answered a questionnaire administered by health workers in their homes. RESULTS: No significant differences in acceptability of food types were found. CSB++ was more likely than soy RUSF or soy/whey RUSF to be shared (21% vs 3% vs 8%, respectively, P < .001). Children who received soy/whey RUSF were more likely to feed themselves than children who received soy RUSF or CSB++ (11% vs 4% vs 3%, respectively, P < .05). Refusing food was associated with slower weight gain. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Despite similar acceptability, feeding practices differed among food types. Increased nonstaple food consumption is associated with weight gain.
Subject(s)
Child Nutrition Disorders/therapy , Food, Formulated , Food, Fortified , Weight Gain/physiology , Caregivers/psychology , Child, Preschool , Dietary Fats/administration & dosage , Dietary Fats/therapeutic use , Dietary Proteins/administration & dosage , Dietary Proteins/therapeutic use , Female , Humans , Infant , Malawi , Male , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
The aim of the present study was to investigate the relation of environmental enteropathy, as measured by the dual sugar absorption test, to linear growth faltering in 2- to 5-year-old Malawian children. Dietary quality, food insecurity, anthropometry, and site-specific sugar testing were measured in 418 children, and anthropometry was reassessed 3 months later. A linear regression model predicting linear growth was created. Better growth was associated with less urinary lactulose excretion, more clean water usage, not sleeping with animals, and no previous history of malnutrition. Eighty-seven percent of children studied demonstrated evidence of environmental enteropathy. In conclusion, abnormal gut integrity is associated with reduced linear growth in a population of rural African preschool-age children.
