Dried skimmed milk, breast-feeding and illness episodes--a controlled trial in young children in Khartoum Province, Sudan.
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.
D000818:Animals; D001066:Appetite; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology*; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008892:Milk / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013397:Sudan; D014839:Vomiting / Q000209:etiology