NCT00524446

Controlled Trial to Test the Efficacy of Lipid-based Nutrient Supplements to Prevent Severe Stunting Among Infants

A Single-centre, Randomised, Single-blind, Parallel Group Clinical Trial in Rural Malawi, Testing the Growth Promoting Effect of Long-term Complementary Feeding of Infants With a High-energy, Micronutrient Fortified Spread

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 3
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 840 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Tampere University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 6 Months – 6 Months
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study tests the hypothesis that infants receiving milk-powder containing fortified spread (lipid-based nutrient supplement) as a complementary food for one year have lower incidence of severe stunting (poor length gain) than infants who are provided with no extra food supplements or maize-soy flour for complementary porridge.

Detailed description

Poor growth and severe childhood stunting is very common in rural Malawi and elsewhere in Sub-Sahara Africa. To date, few interventions have proven successful in promoting linear growth in early childhood. Our preliminary results from Malawi suggest that a year-long daily complementary feeding of infants with a high-energy, micronutrient-fortified spread (FS) may markedly reduce the incidence of severe stunting before the age of 18 months. In the present study the investigators will more carefully analyze the efficacy in linear growth promotion and other health benefits of this product when provided as a complementary food to infants between 6 and 18 months of age. The study will be conducted in Lungwena area, Mangochi District, rural Malawi. Six-month old healthy infants are identified through community surveys in the study area. 840 infants meeting set criteria are randomized into receiving the following intervention between 6 and 18 months of age: 1) standard treatment ie no extra food supplements (but dietary supplementation between 18 and 30 months of age) (ST-DI, control group), 2), "standard" fortified spread with milk-powder as the protein source (FSm), 3) modified fortified spread with soy-powder as the protein source (FSs), or 4) fortified maize-soy flour (likuni phala, LP). The families receive the food supplements at 2-weekly intervals and the participants undergo an anthropometric and developmental evaluation and laboratory analyses at 12-week intervals. Outcome analyses are done at 18 and at 36 months of age. The impact of the dietary interventions will be primarily assessed by comparing the incidence of severe stunting in the four study groups. Secondary outcomes include a number of anthropometric variables, morbidity, developmental milestones, and laboratory parameters. The study will also produce descriptive data on possible mechanisms for growth failure among the trial subjects.

Conditions

• Malnutrition
• Stunting
• Developmental Delay

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Milk-containing fortified spread	Counseling + Vitamin A as for ST-DI + 750 g of fortified spread (FSm) 2-weekly (54 g / day) between 6 and 18 months of age.
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Soy-containing fortified spread	Counseling + Vitamin A as for ST-DI + 750 g of modified fortified spread (FSs) 2-weekly (54 g / day) between 6 and 18 months of age.
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Maize-soy flour	Counseling + Vitamin A as for ST\_DI + 1 kg fortified maize / soy flour 2-weekly (71 g / day) between 6 and 18 months of age.

Timeline

• Start date: 2008-01-01
• Primary completion: 2011-06-01
• Completion: 2014-01-01
• First posted: 2007-09-03
• Last updated: 2014-05-21

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Malawi