Regional low-cost diet supplement improves the nutritional status of school children in a semi-arid region of Brazil

Autor: Ivone T. Azevedo, Silvia M.D. Lima, Elizabeth Maria Talá de Souza, Egle Machado de Almeida Siqueira, Carlos A. Gonçalves, Sandra Fernandes Arruda
Rok vydání: 2003
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nutrition Research. 23:703-712
ISSN: 0271-5317
Popis: Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Brazil have used an alternative diet supplement known as multimixture (MM) composed of bran cereals, cassava leaf powder and eggshell powder. This study investigated the effectiveness of this MM supplement used concomitantly with other actions to improve children’s health. Thirty-one students enrolled in a rural school were examined for anthropometric and hematologic measures before and after the consumption of diet supplemented with MM. The results were compared with those from control group (n = 26) who consumed the same diet without MM. At the end of the study, the NGO intervention provided a beneficial effect on the nutritional status of children, since it improved their blood parameters and reduced the anemia independently of MM supplementation. The average height/age was significantly higher only in the group that received MM. The supplementation of the deficient diets with MM contributed significantly to the improvement of the children’s stature.
Databáze: OpenAIRE