Effects of yogurt supplementation on the growth of preschool children in Beijing suburbs.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of yogurt supplementation on the growth of preschool children in Beijing suburbs.


METHODS
Four hundred and two preschool children (217 males, 185 females), aged 3-5 years, whose height for age and/or weight for age were less than the reference level, were selected as subjects from 7 kindergartens in Beijing Fangshan District. The subjects were divided randomly into control group (CG, 201) and yogurt supplemented group (YG, 201). Each subject in YG was given one serving of yogurt (125 g) for 5 days a week from March to December in 2001, while nothing additional was provided to CG. All subjects kept their usual diet during the study. Anthropometry (body height and weight and upper-arm circumference) and the bone mineral density (BMD) of forearm were measured every 3 months. Disease status and dietary intake were also recorded and assessed.


RESULTS
The intake of calcium, zinc, and vitamin B2 in YG was significantly higher than that in CG. The incidence and duration of upper-respiratory infection and diarrhea of children in YG were significantly less than those in CG. The height gain of children in YG was significantly higher than that in CG after yogurt was supplemented for 3, 6, and 9 months (P<0.05) (1.90+/-0.49 cm vs 1.77+/-0.54 cm, 3.83+/-0.57 cm vs 3.64+/-0.66 cm and 5.43+/-0.69 cm vs 5.24+/-0.76 cm, respectively). The weight gain of children in YG was significantly higher than that in CG after yogurt was supplemented for 3, 6, and 9 months (P<0.05) (0.70+/-0.43 kg vs 0.49+/-0.35 kg, 0.98+/-0.62 kg vs 0.80+/-0.60 kg and 1.42+/-0.76 kg vs 1.20+/-0.67 kg, respectively). The BMD of children in YG was significantly higher than that in CG after yogurt was supplemented for 9 months (P<0.05) (0.415+/-0.058 g/cm2 vs 0.400+/-0.065 g/cm2).


CONCLUSIONS
Yogurt is beneficial to the improvement of calcium, zinc, and vitamin B2 intake, the decreasing of the incidence and duration of upper-respiratory infection and diarrhea, and the promotion of the health and the growth and development of preschool children.
He
Mei
M
Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China.
Yang
Yue-Xin
YX
Han
Hui
H
Men
Jian-Hua
JH
Bian
Li-Hua
LH
Wang
Guo-Dong
GD
D001827:Body Height; D015519:Bone Density; D002657:Child Development; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D015430:Weight Gain; D015014:Yogurt