title: Changes in body composition of malnourished children after dietary supplementation as measured by bioelectrical impedance.
abstract: Body composition was measured with bioelectrical impedance in 35 malnourished children aged 24-59 mo to investigate the effect of a 3-wk feeding supplementation. Twenty children received a high-protein diet with 15% of total energy as protein, whereas 15 children received an isoenergetic standard-protein diet with 7.5% of energy as protein. Bioelectrical impedance analysis and anthropometry were done before and after 21 d of dietary supplementation. The children fed the high-protein diet gained significantly more body weight than those receiving the standard-protein diet (1.33 +/- 0.54 vs 0.88 +/- 0.47 kg, P < 0.02). The total body water and fat-free mass determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis showed that the group fed the high-protein diet increased significantly more (0.92 vs 0.58 kg) than those on the standard-protein diet (P < 0.02). Results of this study suggest that feeding a high-protein diet accelerates catch-up growth and restores the reference body composition in children recovering from malnutrition.
authors.affiliation: International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B).
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kabir
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Malek
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Khaled
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mahalanabis
mesh_terms: D001823:Body Composition; D001834:Body Water; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D017097:Electric Impedance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007563:Jamaica; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010568:Peru
chemical_list: D004044:Dietary Proteins