Acceptability and impact on anthropometry of a locally developed Ready-to-use therapeutic food in pre-school children in Vietnam

Nutrition Journal

Frank T Wieringa²  Jacques Berger³  Nguyen H Minh⁴  Do TB Hoa⁴  Roger Mathisen¹  Marie Nguyen³  Tran T Nga⁴ 

[1] UNICEF Vietnam, 81A Tran Quoc Toan, Hanoi, Vietnam;UMR204 'Nutripass' IRD/UM2/UM1, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), BP 64501-911, avenue d'Agropolis, 34394 MONTPELLIER CEDEX 5, France;UMR 204 NUTRIPASS « Prevention of Malnutrition and associated pathologies », IRD-UMR2-UMR1, Institute of Research for Development (IRD), Montpellier, France;National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hanoi, Vietnam

关键词: Preschool children;    Acceptability;    Anthropometry;    Severe acute malnutrition;    RUTF;   

Others  :  805871
DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2891-12-120

 received in 2013-02-11, accepted in 2013-07-11,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

In South East Asia, concerns exist about the acceptability of peanut-based Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic-Foods (RUTF) for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Therefore, an alternative, culturally acceptable RUTF made from locally available ingredients and complying with local food traditions and preferences was developed. The current study evaluated its acceptability and impact on anthropometry.

Methods

The study was a randomized, two-arm, cross-over intervention trial to test the acceptability of the local product (bar) against a commercially available, peanut-based RUTF paste (Plumpy’nut^®). Children (n = 67) from two kindergartens in a rural area of North Vietnam were recruited. The age of the children was between 3 and 5 years.

Results

The Vietnamese RUTF was well-accepted, although overall acceptability was less than of Plumpy’nut^®, with the latter scoring higher on palatability (P < 0.05). In contrast, reluctance to eat Plumpy’nut^® was higher than for the Vietnamese RUTF (P < 0.05). Impact on anthropmetrical indices was similar for both RUTF. The nutritional status of the children who consumed the two RUTF over a 4 week period improved significantly, with a mean weight gain of 0.64 (SD 0.27) Kg, and increases in WHZ and HAZ z-scores of 0.48 (SD 0.30) and 0.05 (SD 0.13) respectively (P < 0.01 both). Weight gain was similar between the 2 products (0.32 kg per 2 weeks for both).

Conclusions

Both the commercial Plumpy’nut^® and the local produced RUTF were accepted although the harder consistency of the local product might have caused the lower overall acceptance. The promising increase in nutritional status needs to be confirmed in a controlled trial in children with SAM.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Nga et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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Figure 2.

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