Increased height gain of children fed a high-protein diet during convalescence from shigellosis: a six-month follow-Up study
Kabir, I.; Rahman, M.M.; Haider, R.; Mazumder, R.N.; Khaled, M.A.; Mahalanabis, D.
Journal of Nutrition 128(10): 1688-1691
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-3166 PMID: 9772137 DOI: 10.1093/jn/128.10.1688Document Number: 530626
The impact of dietary supplementation on catch-up growth was evaluated in 69 malnourished children ages 24-60 mo after recovery from shigellosis. They were fed either a high-protein (HP) diet with 15% of energy as protein, or a standard-protein (SP) diet with 7.5% energy as protein, for 3 wk in a metabolic study ward. Children were followed up bi-weekly for 6 mo by trained health assistants when anthropometric measurements and information of any illness were collected. Thirty-one children in the HP group and 28 children in the SP group completed 6-mo follow-up. The increase in height (mean ± S D) was 5.3 ± 1.0 cm vs. 4.1 ± 1.1 cm for HP and SP groups, respectively (P < 0.001), whereas increase in body weight was 1.39 ± 0.58 and 1.29 ± 0.72 kg for children fed HP and SP, respectively (P = 0.59). The proportion of children who were severely stunted (< -2 S D height-for-age) decreased from 45 to 29% in the HP group compared to 50 to 46% in the SP group (P < 0.05) at 6-mo follow-up. The number of diarrhea episodes per child tended to be lower in the HP vs. SP than in the SP group (1.9 vs. 2.3, P = 0.41). These results demonstrate that feeding an HP diet to the malnourished children during recovery from shigellosis enhanced linear growth with a modest reduction in diarrhea morbidity during the 6-mo follow-up period. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.