Monitoring growth and development and nutritional status after comprehensive nutritional intervention of infants with food allergy

Abstract

Objective To discuss the importance of nutritional intervention through monitoring the growth and the nutritional status of children with food allergy after comprehensive nutritional intervention. Methods A total of 158 children with food allergy who were under 2 years old were divided into an intervention group and an control group according to comprehensive nutritional intervention.The intervention group received diet guidance from a dietitian regularly and took probiotics.If necessary, nutrients (calcium, iron and zinc) could be provided.The control group was given oral guidance by the pediatrician.After 6 months 1 follow-up, growth situation was assessed in terms of height and weight indexes, and nutritional intake condition was assessed in the light of serum biochemical indexes. Results The prevalence of malnutrition in the intervention group(17.6%) was significantly lower than that in the control group(37.0%), and there was a statistical significance(χ2=22.03, P 6-24 months) of the intervention group were significantly higher than those [calcium: (412.8±89.3) mg and zinc: (7.3±2.1) mg] in the control group (calcium: t=4.011, P 12-24 months) of the intervention group was significantly higher than that[(33.2±8.2) g] in the control group, and there was a statistical significance (t=3.245, P<0.05). Conclusions Children with food allergy have risks of malnutrition, while comprehensive nutritional intervention can obviously decrease the prevalence of malnutrition and deficiency of iron, zinc and calcium, hence normative guidance of scientific feeding of children with food allergy is needed. Key words: Food allergy; Nutritional intervention; Growth and development; Nutritional status