title: A traditional diet as part of oral rehydration therapy in severe acute diarrhoea in young children.
abstract: Recently, the role of feeding as treatment of acute diarrhoea has received increasing attention. To assess the efficacy of early feeding in acute diarrhoea, we conducted a randomised, clinical trial of a traditional legume-based weaning diet khitchri in boys 9 to 48 months old with moderate to severe dehydration. Khitchri is composed of rice and lentils cooked with cottonseed oil. Children were randomly allocated to 2 groups: group A received only WHO ORS but no food for the first 24 hours and then khitchri and half-strength cow's milk formula freely; group B received khitchri and the half-strength formula in addition to ORS after the initial rehydration period of 4 to 6 hours. The mean period of evaluation was 3 days. 69 patients were admitted into the study, 33 in group A and 36 in group B. The initial mean purging rate for the children was greater than 200 g/kg/day. Six children did not complete the study because they developed intercurrent infections or were removed by their parents for non-medical reasons. Of the 63 patients who were evaluated, 44 (70%) were successfully treated, 21 in group A and 23 in group B. There were no significant differences in the 2 groups in mean stool output, number of stools, or weight gain, although a trend toward earlier improvement was seen in group B. These data indicate that early feeding of khitchri and WHO/ORS may be as well tolerated as WHO/ORS alone in the first 24 hours treatment of severe acute diarrhoea in young children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shaikh
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Molla
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Billoo
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hendricks
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Snyder
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003681:Dehydration / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan