Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2025
In Ovo Feeding of Commercial Broiler Eggs: An Accurate and Reproducible Method to Affect Muscle Development and Growth
Published on: September 20, 2021
Effects of egg as an early complementary food on growth of 6- to 9-month-old infants: a randomised controlled trial
Hannah Ricci1,2, Mieke Faber1,3, Cristian Ricci2
1Centre of Excellence for Nutrition, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Insights
Daily egg consumption did not improve growth or iron status in South African infants. Further research is needed to understand animal-source food impacts on child development.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Public Health
- Developmental Pediatrics
Background:
- Childhood malnutrition remains a significant public health issue in low socioeconomic communities.
- Early childhood nutrition is critical for linear growth, development, and iron status.
- Animal-source foods are nutrient-dense but access and impact in vulnerable populations require investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of daily egg consumption on linear growth and development in infants.
- To assess the effect of eggs on key nutritional indicators including anemia and iron status.
- To provide evidence for effective nutritional interventions in resource-limited settings.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial involving 500 infants aged 6-9 months in South Africa.
- Infants were allocated to receive one egg daily or serve as a control group for six months.
- Anthropometric measurements, motor milestone assessments, and iron status evaluations were conducted.
Main Results:
- No significant differences were observed in length-for-age, weight-for-age, or weight-for-length Z-scores between groups.
- Egg intake did not influence gross motor milestone development, anemia prevalence, or iron status.
- Baseline malnutrition and anemia rates were high, with no significant change post-intervention.
Conclusions:
- Daily egg consumption for six months did not improve linear growth, development, or iron status in this cohort.
- Alternative or complementary interventions may be necessary to address nutritional deficiencies.
- Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of animal-source foods in child growth and development.
Objective:
To assess the effect of daily egg consumption for six months on linear growth (primary outcome), weight-for-age, weight-for-length, mid-upper arm circumference-for-age, head circumference-for-age Z-scores, gross motor milestones development, anaemia and iron status (secondary outcomes) in a low socioeconomic community.
Participants:
Infants aged 6 to 9 months living in the peri-urban Jouberton area, in the Matlosana Municipality, South Africa.
Design:
A randomised controlled trial with a parallel design was implemented. Eligible infants were randomly allocated to the intervention (n 250) receiving one egg/day and the control group (n 250) receiving no intervention. The participants were visited weekly to monitor morbidity and gross motor development, with information on adherence collected for the intervention group. Trained assessors took anthropometric measurements, and a blood sample was collected to assess anaemia and iron status. There was blinding of the anthropometric assessors to the groups during measurements and the statistician during the analysis.
Results:
Baseline prevalence of stunting, underweight, wasting, overweight and anaemia was 23·8 %, 9·8 %, 1·2 %, 13·8 % and 29·2 %, respectively, and did not differ between groups. Overall, 230 and 216 participants in the intervention and control groups completed the study, respectively. There was no intervention effect on length-for-age, weight-for-age, weight-for-length Z-scores, gross motor milestone development, anaemia and iron status.
Conclusions:
Daily egg intake did not affect linear growth, underweight, wasting, motor milestones development, anaemia and iron status. Other interventions are necessary to understand the effect of animal-source food intake on children's growth and development. This trial was registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ (NCT05168085).
Related Concept Videos
01:29Environmental Influences on Intelligence
01:20Study Designs in Epidemiology
Observational studies are those where the researcher does not intervene but rather observes natural variations. They include cross-sectional, cohort, and...