Evaluation of dowdo (wheat-milk gruel) in children with acute diarrhoea

Appropriate feeding practices have an important impact on diarrhoeal disease management in developing countries. We evaluated the efficacy of feeding dowdo, a wheat-milk gruel, traditionally used as a weaning food in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Dowdo was compared with khitchri, a rice-lentil mixture, in acute diarrhoea through a randomized trial. Seventy- six children between 6 and 36 months of age, with acute watery diarrhoea of less than seven days were recruited. After rehydration with standard World Health Organization (WHO) glucose-based oral rehydration solution or intravenous Ringers lactate, patients were randomly assigned to either diet group. Dowdo and Khitchri were found to be equally effective in terms of stool frequency and output, duration of diarrhoea, weight gain and duration of hospitalization. The results indicate that feeding dowdo was as effective as khitchri in children with acute diarrhoea. Additionally, acceptability of dowdo was better than Khitchri. It is recommended that dowdo be used for nutritional management of diarrhoeal disease in children in the Northern Areas of Pakistan.