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The effect of high-calorie diet on nutritional parameters of children with beta-thalassaemia major

Ashraf T Soliman1, Wael El-Matary, Mohamed M Abdel Fattah

  • 1The Department of Pediatrics, University of Alexandria, Egypt. atsoliman@yahoo.com

Clinical Nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland)
|September 24, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Increasing caloric intake in children with thalassaemia major improved growth markers like IGF-I, BMI, and mid-arm circumference. This nutritional intervention partially corrects growth impairment in thalassaemic children without other complications.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Nutritional Science
  • Hematology

Background:

  • Thalassaemia major is associated with impaired growth, presenting diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.
  • Understanding the impact of nutrition on growth in thalassaemia major is crucial for management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if increased caloric intake can improve growth in children with thalassaemia major.
  • To test the hypothesis that nutritional supplementation can correct impaired growth in this population.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective controlled study involving 30 children with thalassaemia major and 30 controls.
  • Assessment of nutritional status using BMI, MAC, SFT, serum albumin, and IGF-I.
  • Randomized intervention with a high-caloric diet (130-150% of recommended intake) for 8 weeks in a subset of thalassaemic children.

Main Results:

  • Children with thalassaemia major exhibited lower BMI, SFT, MAC, albumin, and IGF-I compared to controls.
  • High-caloric diet supplementation significantly increased MAC, SFT, BMI, IGF-I, and albumin levels in thalassaemic children.
  • Despite improvements, these markers remained lower than in the normal control group after supplementation.

Conclusions:

  • Increased caloric intake significantly boosts IGF-I levels in children with thalassaemia major.
  • Nutritional supplementation positively impacts BMI, mid-arm circumference, and skin fold thickness.
  • Caloric supplementation offers partial correction for growth impairment in thalassaemia major, excluding endocrinopathy or cardiomyopathy.
Abstract

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