Effect of 12-month intervention with lipid-based nutrient supplements on physical activity of 18-month-old Malawian children: a randomised, controlled trial
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Published on: August 22, 2012
A Pulakka1, U Ashorn1, Y B Cheung2
1University of Tampere School of Medicine, Department for International Health, Tampere, Finland.
Insights
Dietary lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNSs) did not significantly impact physical activity levels in Malawian toddlers. This 12-month supplementation study found no measurable increase in activity for children aged 6-18 months.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Child Development
- Micronutrient Supplementation
Background:
- Childhood physical activity is crucial for healthy development.
- Lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNSs) are used to address micronutrient deficiencies in young children.
- The impact of LNSs on physical activity in toddlers requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effect of daily LNS supplementation on the physical activity of Malawian toddlers.
- To compare different doses and types of LNSs (milk-based vs. non-milk-based) on physical activity outcomes.
Main Methods:
- A randomized, controlled, outcome-assessor blinded trial involving 1932 children aged 6 months in Malawi.
- Children received daily LNS interventions (10-40g, milk or non-milk based) or no intervention from 6-18 months.
- Physical activity was measured at 18 months using accelerometers (ActiGraph GT3X+) over one week.
Main Results:
- A total of 1053 children provided sufficient accelerometer data for analysis.
- No statistically significant differences in mean vector magnitude accelerometer counts were observed across LNS groups compared to the control group.
- Specific differences ranged from -11 to 21 counts/15s, with P-values indicating no significant effect.
Conclusions:
- Daily LNS supplementation (10-40g) for 12 months did not enhance the physical activity of Malawian toddlers.
- The findings suggest that LNSs, in the studied dosages, do not influence accelerometer-measured physical activity in this population.
- Further research may explore other potential benefits or different intervention strategies.
Background/Objectives:
This study measured the effects of dietary supplementation with lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNSs) on 18-month-old children's physical activity.
Subjects/Methods:
In a randomised, controlled, outcome-assessor blinded trial 1932 six-month-old children from Malawi received one of five interventions daily from 6-18 months of age: 10-g milk-LNS, 20-g milk-LNS, 20-g non-milk-LNS, 40-g milk-LNS or 40-g non-milk-LNS, or received no intervention in the same period (control). The control group received delayed intervention with corn-soy blend from 18-30 months. Physical activity was measured over 1 week by ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer at 18 months. Main outcome was mean vector magnitude accelerometer counts/15 s. Analyses were restricted to children with valid accelerometer data on at least 4 days with minimum 6 h of wearing time per day.
Results:
Of the 1435 children recruited to this substudy, 1053 provided sufficient data for analysis. The mean (s.d.) vector magnitude accelerometer counts in the total sample were 307 (64). The difference (95% CI) in mean accelerometer counts, compared with the control group, was 8 (-6 to 21, P=0.258) in 10-g milk-LNS, 3 (-11 to 17, P=0.715) in 20-g milk-LNS, 5 (-8 to 19, P=0.445) in 20-g non-milk-LNS, 10 (-3 to 23, P=0.148) in 40-g milk-LNS and 2 (-12 to 16, P=0.760) in 40-g non-milk-LNS groups.
Conclusions:
Provision of 10-40 g doses of LNS daily for 12 months did not increase physical activity of Malawian toddlers.
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