Effect of rice-corn mix consumption on growth and nutrient intake of malnourished children
2019
Tabuac, E.B. | Ilagan, J.R. | Lalap, B.R. | Hurtada, W.A.
With the increasing prevalence of malnutrition due to the country's food insecurity problem specifically inaccessibility to sufficient rice, the IPB var 6, quality protein white maize (QPM) was developed as an alternative staple. This randomized controlled feeding trial aimed to assess the effect of rice-QPM corn grits mix consumption on the growth and nutrient intake of 3-5 yr-old malnourished children in Los Baños, Laguna. Forty-two malnourished children were randomly assigned to different treatment groups: 100% rice, 70:30% rice-corn and 50:50% rice-corn mixtures (RCM) and were fed for 120 d. Results revealed that there was significant improvement in the mean energy and protein intake from the baseline to endline in all groups. The highest mean energy (960.26 kcal), protein (34.92 g), lysine and tryptophan intakes were observed among children fed with 50:50% RCM. Zinc and iron intakes per day were adequate for all groups. Significant improvements in the quality of the diet of children in all groups were also observed. The mean DDS at midline and endline was within medium dietary diversity score range of which 4-5 of the food groups were eaten by the children. Along with significant increase in energy and nutrient intake was the significant increase in the weight, height and MUAC; and changes on the nutritional status indicators WAZ, HAZ, WSP and BMIAP were the same among meal types. The computed odds ratio for weight indicates that 50:50% RCM could likely improve underweight children to being normal by weight. Similarly, consumption of 70:30% RCM may also likely improve stunted children to being normal in height. Thus, the incorporation of corn to the staple could possibly contribute to the improvement of weight and height among children as compared to rice alone.
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