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ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION |
1 From the Nutritional Intervention Research Unit (MF and AJSB) and Biostatistics Unit (CJL), Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, South Africa, and the Child, Youth, and Family Development, Human Sciences Research Council, Dalbridge, South Africa (JDK)
Background: Maize-meal porridge is used for infant feeding in many African countries, including South Africa. A low-cost, finely milled, maize-meal porridge was fortified with ß-carotene, iron, and zinc (100% of recommended dietary allowance), as well as ascorbic acid, copper, selenium, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12, and vitamin E.
Objective: We assessed whether the fortified porridge could reduce anemia and improve the micronutrient status and motor development of infants.
Design: Infants aged 6–12 mo (n = 361) were randomly assigned to receive either the fortified or unfortified porridge for 6 mo. Primary outcomes were hemoglobin and serum retinol, zinc, and ferritin concentrations and motor development. Growth was assessed as a secondary outcome. Primary and secondary outcomes were assessed at baseline and 6 mo.
Results: Two hundred ninety-two infants completed the study. The fortified-porridge group had an intervention effect of 9.4 µg/L (95% CI: 3.6, 15.1 µg/L) for serum ferritin and 9 g/L (95% CI: 6, 12 g/L) for hemoglobin concentrations. The proportion of infants with anemia decreased from 45% to 17% in the fortified-porridge group, whereas it remained >40% in the control group. The fortified-porridge group achieved on average 15.5 of the 25 motor development score items, whereas the control group achieved 14.4 items (P = 0.007). Serum retinol concentration showed an inconsistent effect, and no intervention effect was observed for serum zinc concentrations.
Conclusions: This low-cost fortified porridge can potentially have a significant effect in reducing anemia and improving iron status and motor development of infants in poor settings. The formulation needs some adjustment in terms of zinc fortification.
Key Words: Fortified porridge • infants • micronutrients • anemia • motor development
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