Acceptability of lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNS) among Ghanaian infants and pregnant or lactating women

Abstract

Inadequate micronutrient intake during pregnancy, lactation and infancy is a major problem in many developing countries. Lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNS) can improve micronutrient status, growth and development of infants, and also have potential to improve nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women. The objective of the study was to test the acceptability of LNS designed for infants (LNS-20gM) and pregnant or lactating women (LNS-P&L). Participants were infants (n = 22, mean age = 8 months) and pregnant or lactating women (n = 24) attending routine services at a hospital in Ghana. Infants consumed 45 g of a test meal consisting of one part LNS-20gM and three parts fermented maize porridge, while women consumed 50 g of a similar test meal containing LNS-P&L instead. Participants also used their respective LNS at home for 14 days. Primary outcome was the proportion of the test meal consumed. On average, infants consumed 76.2% of the test meal [95% (confidence interval) CI: 65.7, 86.7], while women consumed 87.1% (95% CI: 82.6, 91.6). During the 14-day period, median daily consumption of LNS-20gM was 19.3 g, very close to the recommended 20 g d(-1), while that of LNS-P&L was one sachet, as recommended. We conclude that LNS-20gM and LNS-P&L were well accepted.

Iron Bioavailability from a Lipid-Based Complementary Food Fortificant Mixed with Millet Porridge Can Be Optimized by Adding Phytase and Ascorbic Acid but Not by Using a Mixture of Ferrous Sulfate and Sodium Iron EDTA

“…LNSs have been widely used in the field of child malnutrition and are well accepted by children and caregivers (12,51,52). Current LNSs are typically made from vegetable oil, peanut paste, milk powder, sugar, and a micronutrient premix.…”

Rapid acceptability and adherence testing of a lipid-based nutrient supplement and a micronutrient powder among refugee children and pregnant and lactating women in Algeria

“…This is the first report of an adherence study conducted within a refugee emergency nutrition programme and it proposes thresholds for defining adequate acceptability and adherence for similar products in these contexts. Unlike other recently reported adherence studies (12,13,21) , the method is designed to allow the measurement of both under-and overconsumption during feeding at home and calculates adherence taking both of these behaviours in to account. When assessing the use of highly fortified products, such as those we tested, the ability to measure overconsumption is particularly important.…”

“…Bioavailability studies on MNP have shown that iron is well absorbed in infants (8,9) and multiple randomized studies have demonstrated the efficacy of MNP in treating anaemia in young children (10) . The acceptability of various LNS and MNP products was previously tested and generally found to be high in Pakistan (11) , Ghana (12) , Burkina Faso (13,14) and Malawi (15) . However, studies in refugee contexts have indicated that MNP is not always well accepted and that adherence can be low (16) .…”

An effectiveness trial showed lipid-based nutrient supplementation but not corn–soya blend offered a modest benefit in weight gain among 6- to 18-month-old underweight children in rural Malawi

“…However, the weakness is that compliance/adherence to the study food was not checked, limiting our understanding of how the supplement was used by each child and within the household. The positive impact of LNS in these settings is likely to be associated with its good taste and acceptability among infants and young children (17)(18)(19) , its high energy and nutrient density, and its non-resemblance to normal family foods (5,20) . CSB, on the other hand, is normally consumed by infants as high-volume porridge, similar to many traditional foods.…”