Search

Investigates the physical growth of Vietnamese children on a longitudinal basis. Feeding practices and health care during infancy; Weight and height of Vietnamese children determination; Comparison of Vietnam and French-born Vietnamese children; Secular trend among Vietnamese children.

As part of the Cross-Cultural Research on Nutrition of Older Subjects (CRONOS) project, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to observe the nutritional status and body composition of free-living elderly and middle-aged people in a low-income area of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Anthropometric data (weight; height; arm span; four skinfold thicknesses; left upper mid-arm, abdomen, hip and calf circumferences) were collected from 50 Vietnamese men and 50 Vietnamese women aged between 35 and 44 years and 50 men and 50 women aged between 60 and 74 years who lived in Village 2, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City. The prevalence of chronic energy deficiency (CED) in the elderly men (BMI = 19.9 ± 2.8 kg/m2) was higher (52 vs 34%) than that in the middle-aged men (BMI = 19.2 ± 3.4 kg/m2). Fat-free mass and calf circumference of the elderly were lower than those of the middle-aged (p<0.001). However, the Vietnamese elderly had higher body fat content, higher abdomen-to-hip ratios and lower fat-free mass than their younger counterparts (p<0.05). In particular, 36% of middle-aged women and 20% of elderly women were classified with 'relative abdominal overfatness'. Vietnamese middle-aged and older adults are shorter and thinner than their counterparts in American and European countries but overfatness increases with age, particularly in women. Urban elderly are vulnerable to both undernutrition and overnutrition, both of which merit consideration in the geriatric care system in Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anemia is still the major nutritional problem among pregnant women in Southeast Asia. The objective of this study was to measure hemoglobin status and reduction of underweight in a group of pregnant women who received iron-fortified or nonfortified milk, and another group who received iron supplements (tablets) or placebo. The 44 women in the iron-fortified milk group received 15 mg of iron per day per 400 ml of milk, and 41 women received placebo. The 40 women in the iron supplement group received 60 mg of iron per day, and 43 women received nonfortified milk. During this intervention trial, all women were supervised from the 14th to the 18th week of gestation until delivery. Blood was sampled at 0, 5, 10, and 16 weeks of intervention. After the 16th week of intervention, the changes in hemoglobin (deltaHb) concentrations in both treatment groups (the iron-fortified milk and the iron tablet groups) were not significantly different (deltaHb: -0.5+/-0.9 and -0.3+/-0.9 g/L, respectively), but the changes were significantly greater in the nonfortified milk and placebo groups (deltaHb: -1.2+/-0.9 and -1.1+/-0.8 g/L, respectively; p < .01). The change in transferrin saturation (deltaTS) in the iron-fortified milk group (deltaTS: 3.4+/-12.9%) was greater than that in the placebo and nonfortified milk groups (deltaTS: -10.1+/-9.8% and -11.6+/-10.7 %, respectively) (p < .01). The weight gain of the subjects during intervention did not differ significantly in the fortified and nonfortified milk groups (delta weight: 5.0+/-2.0 and 5.8+/-2.1 kg, respectively), but was higher than in the iron tablet group (delta weight: 4.6+/-3.1 kg; p < .05) and the placebo group (delta weight: 3.8+/-2.5 kg; p < .001). Iron supplementation and fortification were seen to be effective in promoting weight gain in pregnant Vietnamese women. For women who are underweight, the administration of iron-fortified milk has additional benefits to those of supplementation, most likely due to additional energy and nutrient inputs.

Diets of infants across the world are commonly deficient in multiple micronutrients during the period of growth faltering and dietary transition from milk to solid foods. A randomized placebo controlled trial was carried out in Indonesia, Peru, South Africa, and Vietnam, using a common protocol to investigate whether improving status for multiple micronutrients prevented growth faltering and anemia during infancy. The results of the pooled data analysis of the 4 countries for growth, anemia, and micronutrient status are reported. A total of 1134 infants were randomized to 4 treatment groups, with 283 receiving a daily placebo (P), 283 receiving a weekly multiple micronutrient supplement (WMM), 280 received a daily multiple micronutrient (DMM) supplement, and 288 received daily iron (DI) supplements. The DMM group had a significantly greater weight gain, growing at an average rate of 207 g/mo compared with 192 g/mo for the WMM group, and 186 g/mo for the DI and P groups. There were no differences in height gain. DMM was also the most effective treatment for controlling anemia and iron deficiency, besides improving zinc, retinol, tocopherol, and riboflavin status. DI supplementation alone increased zinc deficiency. The prevalence of multiple micronutrient deficiencies at baseline was high, with anemia affecting the majority, and was not fully controlled even after 6 mo of supplementation. These positive results indicate the need for larger effectiveness trials to examine how to deliver supplements at the program scale and to estimate cost benefits. Consideration should also be given to increasing the dosages of micronutrients being delivered in the foodlets.

Infants in developing countries are at risk of concurrent micronutrient deficiencies, because the same causative factors may lead to deficiencies of different micronutrients. Inadequate dietary intake is considered one of the major causes of micronutrient deficiencies, especially among poor and underprivileged children in developing countries. Operational strategies and distribution systems are often duplicated when supplementation programs for single micronutrients are implemented at the same time. The International Research on Infant Supplementation (IRIS) trial was conducted in four distinct populations on three continents: Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The participating countries were South Africa, Peru, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The study had a randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled design. Each country aimed to enroll at least 70 infants per intervention group (65 + 5 anticipated dropouts). The micronutrient vehicle was in the form of a "foodlet" (food-like tablet) manufactured as chewable tablets, which were easy to break and dissolve, and which had the same taste, color, and flavor for all countries. Children were randomly assigned to one of four 6-month intervention groups: group 1 received a daily foodlet containing multiple micronutrients; group 2 received a daily placebo foodlet containing no micronutrients; group 3 received a weekly foodlet that contained multiple micronutrients (twice the dose of the daily foodlet) and placebo foodlets on the other days of the week; group 4 received a daily foodlet containing only 10 mg of elemental iron. The IRIS Trial aimed to examine the prevalence of multi-micronutrient deficiencies in 6- to 12-month-old infants from rural populations, and to examine the efficacy of multi-micronutrient supplementation in infants from the different countries included in the study. This paper describes the general methodology of the IRIS trial and the operational differences among the country sites.

The objective of this longitudinal study was to investigate the association between the premature initiation of complementary feeding and physical growth of children. Four cohorts of newborn children were included, consisting of 90 infants born in 1981, 90 in 1982, 60 infants in 1983 and 60 in 1984. The weights and heights of children were measured monthly up to 1 y, then every 3 mo for y 2 and 3, and once every 6 mo in y 4. Information on feeding practices and diseases of the children was obtained by interviewing the mothers at each home visit. All but three children (98.6%) were breast-fed. Although 87.1% of the mothers breast-fed their children for at least 1 y, only 3.3% of the infants were breast-fed exclusively at the age of 4 mo. In the analyses of growth, care was taken to address the biases of reverse causality, regression to the mean and confounding. There was little association between feeding pattern at 15 d and growth in length in mo 1. However, partially breast-fed and weaned infants gained weight more slowly than those exclusively or predominantly breast-fed. From 1 to 3 mo, exclusively breast-fed infants grew more quickly in both weight and length, followed by predominantly breast-fed infants. From 3 to 6 mo, exclusively breast-fed infants gained more weight compared with the other groups, but there was a slight difference (P = 0.047) in length gain only between exclusively and partially breast-fed infants. In the older period (6-12 mo), exclusively and predominantly breast-fed infants grew in length more quickly than partially breast-fed and weaned groups. However, there was no difference in weight gain among groups. Morbidity from diarrhea and acute respiratory infections was significantly lower for the >/=3 mo exclusively breast-fed group (chi(2) and Fisher-Exact Test). Over nearly the whole age range from 1 mo to 4 y, Z-scores for all indices (weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height) of the children who received complementary food were significantly lower than those of children who were exclusively breast-fed for at least 3 mo (repeated measures ANOVA, adjusted for sex, family size, maternal education and family income). These results show a long-term deterioration of physical growth in infants who received premature complementary feeding and confirm the importance of exclusive breast-feeding for infants for at least 3 mo.

Background: Micronutrient deficiencies remain common in preschool children in developing countries. Interventions focus on single micronutrients and often lack effectiveness. Weekly instead of daily supplementation may improve effectiveness., Objective: The efficacy of weekly and daily supplementation in reducing anemia prevalence and in improving the zinc, vitamin A, and growth status of 6-24-mo-old Vietnamese children was investigated., Design: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the daily group (n = 55) received 8 mg elemental Fe (as iron sulfate), 5 mg elemental Zn (as zinc sulfate), 333 microg retinol, and 20 mg vitamin C 5 d/wk for 3 mo. The weekly group (n = 54) received 20 mg Fe, 17 mg Zn, 1700 microg retinol, and 20 mg vitamin C once a week. A third group (n = 54) received a placebo only. Venous blood samples were collected at the start and end of the supplementation period and anthropometric measurements were taken at the start and 3 mo after the end of supplementation., Results: At baseline, 45.6% of subjects had hemoglobin concentrations < 110 g/L, 36.3% had zinc concentrations < 10.71 micromol/L, and 45.6% had retinol concentrations <0.70 micromol/L. Hemoglobin, retinol, and zinc concentrations of both the weekly and daily groups increased similarly compared with the placebo group (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in growth between the supplemented groups and the placebo group. However, the height-for-age of subjects stunted at baseline increased with z scores of 0.48 (P < 0.001) and 0.37 (P < 0.001) for the daily and weekly groups, respectively., Conclusions: Weekly and daily supplementation improved hemoglobin, zinc, and retinol concentrations similarly. Neither intervention affected growth of the overall population, but growth of children stunted at baseline was improved through both types of supplementation.