Consumption of three supplements with identical micronutrient content in Mexican children

Abstract

The objective of this analysis was to compare consumption of three nutritional supplements with identical micronutrient content for children. Communities (18 per supplement) were randomly assigned to receive a fortified food (FF, 44 g of milk‐based powder dissolved in water to form a pap), syrup (SY, 5 ml) or Sprinkles (SK, 1 g dissolved in food). Children 6 to 12 mo of age, beneficiaries of the Oportunidades program were recruited. Supplements were delivered daily (6 mo) then weekly from recruitment to 24 mo of age. Compliance and consumed amount (0, ¼, ½, ¾, 1 doses) were recorded for the dose (SY) or the portion served (FF and SK). 927 children were assigned to treatment (FF n=265; SY n=323; SK n=339). There were no observed differences between groups at baseline. There was no difference (p>0.10) between groups in the mean proportion of days offered that the supplements were consumed (FF 85.8±13.4; SY 87.6±13.6; SK 88.9±10.5%). The proportion of days that the entire dose was consumed was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the SK (80.9±17.1%) than the FF (56.5±29.3%) and SY (67.8±24.6%) groups. Over the first 12 mo of the study, children in the SK group consumed significantly (p<0.01) more doses (225.6±54.2) than the FF (187.8±64.3) or SY (184.3±53.4) groups. Despite the controlled nature of this study, consumption of the entire dose varied considerably by group. Further analyses are needed to determine how this might relate to consumption of each in the context of a large scale program such as Oportunidades.The Oportunidades program financed this study and holds the rites to the data presented.