Dried skimmed milk, breast-feeding and illness episodes--a controlled trial in young children in Khartoum Province, Sudan
Zumrawi, F.; Vaughan, J.P.; Waterlow, J.C.; Kirkwood, B.R.
International Journal of Epidemiology 10(4): 303-308
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0300-5771 PMID: 6895739 DOI: 10.1093/ije/10.4.303Document Number: 387696
In a controlled trial mothers and children attending urban maternal and child health (MCH) clinics in Khartoum Province were given a fortnightly take home food supplement of 1 Kilogram of dried skimmed milk (DSM) or an equivalent amount of local beans. There were approximately 300 children aged 6-26 months in each group and each child was followed for 3 to 6 months. A comparison of the two groups showed: a) that the DSM group mothers were more likely to continue breastfeeding; b) there was no evidence to associate DSM with an increased incidence of episodes of diarrhoea, fever or vomiting; c) the utilisation of health institutions was very similar in the two groups; and d) there was no significant difference in the mothers' assessment of the proportion of children with a "poor' appetite in either group. This trial met with considerable methodological problems and the results should therefore be interpreted cautiously. There is a great need for more and better designed trials to assess the possible adverse effects of DSM.