Abstract
Complementary foods that are deficient in both macronutrients and micronutrients coupled with a high burden of infections during the complementary feeding period are major underlying causes of child malnutrition in developing countries. Among the recent efforts to combat malnutrition by improving the quality of complementary foods in the developing world is the use of Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MLP) as a food fortificant. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to test the effect of feeding MLP‐fortified complementary food on hemoglobin concentration and growth of infants and young children after 4 months of feeding. Infants aged 8–12 months were randomly assigned to receive one of three study foods; Weanimix a cereal‐legume blend formulated with Moringa (MCL‐35g), MLP sprinkled on infants’ usual complementary foods (MS‐5g) and the control food Weanimix without Moringa (CF‐35g). Blood samples for hemoglobin determination as well as dietary intake and anthropometric data were collected at baseline and endline for 237 infants who completed the study. Data analysis was performed with SPSS (version 20) and comparisons were done by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). There were no significant differences in hemoglobin concentration or growth indicators at endline between the three study groups. Findings of this study indicated that feeding infants a 5 g daily dose of MLP, either as part of a cereal‐legume blend or as a supplement which was sprinkled on infants’ usual complementary foods for 4 months, did not significantly improve infants’ hemoglobin concentration or growth indicators.
Highlights
The complementary feeding period is generally associated with considerable growth faltering in low-income populations (Victora, de Onis, Hallal, Blossner, & Shrimpton, 2010)
Findings of this study were contrary to the study hypotheses which predicted that the infants who were fed complementary foods that incorporated Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MLP) would have significantly higher increase in the primary outcome hemoglobin concentration
This level which translates into 10% of the Recommended Nutrient Intakes (RNIs) for iron for infants aged between six to 23 months is far lower than the WHO’s recommendation of nearly 100% of iron requirements for infants aged 6–23 months coming from complementary foods (WHO, 1998)
Summary
The complementary feeding period is generally associated with considerable growth faltering in low-income populations (Victora, de Onis, Hallal, Blossner, & Shrimpton, 2010). Complementary foods that are deficient in both macronutrients and micronutrients coupled with a high burden of infections during the complementary feeding period are major underlying causes of child malnutrition. | 303 of children under 5 years old are stunted and wasted, respectively (Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), Ghana Health Service (GHS), and ICF International, 2015). The survey results further revealed that micronutrient malnutrition is still highly prevalent and persistent with 66% of children under 5 years suffering from varying degrees of anemia. One major cause of micronutrient malnutrition in low-income populations is the lack of access to a variety of foods (Miller & Welch, 2013). Improving the quality of complementary foods is reported to be one of the most cost-effective approaches for reducing morbidity and mortality in young children and improving their health (Krebs & Hambidge, 2007) and there is a renewed emphasis on the use of locally available food ingredients for improving complementary foods (Babu, 2000)
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