Effect of three supplements with identical micronutrient content on language acquisition in Mexican children

Abstract

The objective of this analysis was to assess the impact of three nutritional supplements with identical micronutrient content on language acquisition in children. Communities (18 per supplement) were randomly assigned to receive a fortified food (FF), syrup (SY) or Sprinkles (SK). Children 6 to 12 m of age, beneficiaries of the Oportunidades program were eligible to participate. Supplements were delivered daily (6 mo) then weekly and compliance recorded. Language acquisition was assessed with the McAuthur test which assessed both comprehension and expression and was applied to all children 9 mo of age and older and reported as number of words. Appropriate statistical analyses for cluster randomized trials were used. 727 children were recruited (FF n=214; SY n=246; SK n=267) of whom 358 were ≥9 m of age. After 4 m supplementation, 695 children were tested and we present results for all (cross‐sectional sample) and for change in language comprehension and expression on a longitudinal sub‐sample (n=288). There was no significant difference in language comprehension in either sample. In the sub‐sample, change in language expression was higher in the FF (p<0.05) and SK (p<0.10) groups than the SY group (FF: 7.4±12.1 SK: 6.7±7.8 SY: 5.0±5.1 words used). These results suggest that FF and SK may have provided greater benefit for language development than SY. However, there results should be considered preliminary until analysis are conducted after longer supplementation periods. The Oportunidades program financed this study and holds the rites to the data presented.