BackgroundInadequate and inappropriate complementary feeding are major factors contributing to excess morbidity and mortality in young children in low resource settings. Animal source foods in particular are cited as essential to achieve micronutrient requirements. The efficacy of the recommendation for regular meat consumption, however, has not been systematically evaluated.Methods/DesignA cluster randomized efficacy trial was designed to test the hypothesis that 12 months of daily intake of beef added as a complementary food would result in greater linear growth velocity than a micronutrient fortified equi-caloric rice-soy cereal supplement. The study is being conducted in 4 sites of the Global Network for Women's and Children's Health Research located in Guatemala, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia in communities with toddler stunting rates of at least 20%. Five clusters per country were randomized to each of the food arms, with 30 infants in each cluster. The daily meat or cereal supplement was delivered to the home by community coordinators, starting when the infants were 6 months of age and continuing through 18 months. All participating mothers received nutrition education messages to enhance complementary feeding practices delivered by study coordinators and through posters at the local health center. Outcome measures, obtained at 6, 9, 12, and 18 months by a separate assessment team, included anthropometry; dietary variety and diversity scores; biomarkers of iron, zinc and Vitamin B12 status (18 months); neurocognitive development (12 and 18 months); and incidence of infectious morbidity throughout the trial. The trial was supervised by a trial steering committee, and an independent data monitoring committee provided oversight for the safety and conduct of the trial.DiscussionFindings from this trial will test the efficacy of daily intake of meat commencing at age 6 months and, if beneficial, will provide a strong rationale for global efforts to enhance local supplies of meat as a complementary food for young children.Trial registrationNCT01084109
The objective of this study was to compare a Tibetan traditional medicine (the uterotonic Zhi Byed 11 [ZB11]) to oral misoprostol for prophylaxis of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). We conducted a double-blind randomized controlled trial at three hospitals in Lhasa, Tibet, People’s Republic of China. Women (N = 967) were randomized to either ZB11 or misoprostol groups. Postpartum blood loss was measured in a calibrated blood collection drape. The primary combined outcome was incidence of PPH, defined as measured blood loss (MBL) ≥ 500 mL, administration of open label uterotonics, or maternal death. We found that the rate of the combined outcome was lower among the misoprostol group (16.1% versus 21.8% for ZB11; P = .02). Frequency of PPH was lower with misoprostol (12.4% versus 17.4%; P = .02). There were no significant differences in MBL > 1000 mL or mean or median MBL. Fever was significantly more common in the misoprostol group (P = .03). The rate of combined outcome was significantly lower among women receiving misoprostol. However, other indices of obstetric hemorrhage were not significantly different.
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