This randomized controlled trial examined how small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) during pregnancy, postpartum and infancy affect child growth and blood pressure at 9 to 11 years in the International Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements (iLiNS)-DYAD-Ghana cohort.
Supplementation of lipid-based nutrient supplements during the significant 1000-day period, including the prenatal phase and the first 2 years after birth, aids long-term linear growth in girls and children of healthy-weight mothers.
This randomized controlled trial examined how small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) during pregnancy, postpartum and infancy affect child growth and blood pressure at 9 to 11 years in the International Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements (iLiNS)-DYAD-Ghana cohort.
One-thousand three-hundred twenty females (less than or equal to 20 weeks of pregnancy) were randomly allocated to receive every day:
Nine-hundred sixty-six children (aged 9-11 years) were re-enrolled. Parameters such as arm circumference, height-for-age z-score (HAZ), triceps skin-fold thickness, body mass index (BMI) for-age z-score, waist-to-height ratio, and blood pressure were noted. A comparison between the SQ-LNS and control groups (iron and folic acid + multiple micronutrients) was done while accounting for the child's age.
The average (standard deviation [SD]) HAZ in the SQ-LNS group was -0.04 (0.96) and was -0.16 (0.99) in the control group, with a p-value of 0.060. No considerable group differences were detected in other outcomes (p > 0.10). However, the effects of HAZ varied depending on the child's sex and pre-pregnancy BMI. As observed in women, HAZ was higher in the SQ-LNS group when compared to the control group; in males, it did not differ (Table 1):
Among children of females with a BMI of less than 25, HAZ was higher in the SQ-LNS compared to the control group; among females with a BMI of more than equal to 25, these parameters did not vary (Table 2):
The continued benefits of prenatal and postnatal SQ-LNS are apparent in the continued linear growth of girls and children born to mothers with normal weight. Greater body height in women could most likely reduce small-for-gestational-age childbirths and related complications.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Sustained effects of small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements provided during the first 1000 days on child growth at 9–11 y in a randomized controlled trial in Ghana
Helena J Bentil et al.
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