Formative Research Study to Address Protein Intake in Children and Analysis of Breast Milk Nutrient Content in Mothers
Condition: Protein Malnutrition
MeSH terms: Malnutrition; Kwashiorkor
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This formative research seeks to explore the use of egg (as a potential source of protein) as
      nutritional supplement for young children aged 6-8 months of either sex and breast milk
      composition of mothers of infants under 6 months old living in an urban slum of Dhaka city,
      Bangladesh.
    

Detailed description: 
      Inadequate dietary protein intake and prolonged undernourishment can lead to short term and
      long-term consequences, which can deplete financial, physical, and social capital, further
      exacerbating the cycle of undernutrition. Subsequently, undernutrition contributes to the
      difficulty in achieving sustainable development and alleviating people from poverty. Children
      are a particular focus of interest because of the formative impact that nutrition can have on
      development. This is particularly relevant for the 159 million children from low and
      middle-income countries (LMICs) who are already stunted and many more are at risk of
      stunting. Understanding how to prevent child undernutrition is imperative to the future
      development of these children from LMICs. There is no study done so far to understand the
      quantity, preference and quality of egg protein intake in young children living in LMICs with
      high burden of undernutrition. In this context, eggs can serve as a potential source of
      protein to meet the unmet need of protein especially children living in resource-poor
      environments. Eggs contain high concentrations of choline - an important precursor of
      phospholipids, which can prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes, neural tube defects, changes in
      brain structure and function in offspring, and impaired language development during early
      childhood. Evidence is limited on the support of egg-related interventions for better
      nutrition outcomes in children from developing countries. Also there is very little evidence
      on the association between mother's breast milk composition with child's nutritional status.
    

Intervention name(s): Egg Alone; Egg and ready to use supplementary food (RUSF); Egg and breast milk
Intervention type(s): Dietary Supplement; Dietary Supplement; Dietary Supplement
Intervention description(s): A chicken egg will be offered for 2 days; A chicken egg and ready to use supplementary food (RUSF) will be offered for 2 days; A chicken egg and breast milk will be offered for 2 days
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Intervention model description: The children will be randomly allocated to one of the three types of food (egg alone or egg + RUSF or egg + breast milk) in a crossover design.
Each of the diets (egg alone or egg + RUSF or egg + breast milk) will be offered for 2 days each. The order of diets will be randomly allocated over a period of 6 days. There would be 6 possible permutations and combinations of the order of the diets over this 6 days sequential period.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Basic Science