Increased height gain of children fed a high-protein diet during convalescence from shigellosis: a six-month follow-Up study.
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 +/- SD) 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 SD 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 diarrheal 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 diarrheal morbidity during the 6-mo follow-up period.
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
I
I
Kabir
M M
MM
Rahman
R
R
Haider
R N
RN
Mazumder
M A
MA
Khaled
D
D
Mahalanabis
D000561:Amdinocillin Pivoxil / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000886:Anthropometry; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001459:Bangladesh; D001827:Body Height / Q000187:drug effects*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003289:Convalescence; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004405:Dysentery, Bacillary / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009268:Nalidixic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010406:Penicillins / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D004044:Dietary Proteins; D010406:Penicillins; D000561:Amdinocillin Pivoxil; D009268:Nalidixic Acid