Resources
Research highlights
In this section, the IYCN Project offers summaries of new and notable research related to maternal, infant, and young child nutrition. Each summary includes the findings and analysis of the study’s author(s) only. Check back periodically for new research highlights.
Some of the journal articles listed below require a subscription to view the full text. If you live in a developing country, you can access major journals for free through Hinari. Learn more about Hinari.
Nutrition education improves growth in rural China
April 2010
An article in the April 2010 issue of Public Health Nutrition presents findings from a randomized controlled trail of an education intervention designed to improve complementary feeding practices in China. Children ages 2 to 4 months in four intervention villages, each matched to a control village, were assigned to receive a set of interventions that included (1) group training on food selection, preparation, and hygiene, childhood nutrition and growth, and responsive feeding; (2) cooking demonstrations on preparation of enhanced complementary foods; (3) provision of printed materials with feeding guidance and complementary food preparation methods; and (4) home visits every three months to identify feeding problems and provide individualized counseling. The intervention was designed based on extensive formative research, including assessment of local infant feeding patterns and ingredients and methods of complementary food preparation. Family members and community leaders were included in group training sessions, and all interventions were conducted by local health providers. Results showed that children ages 6, 9, and 12 months in the intervention villages ate more meals each day and were more likely to eat important non-staple foods, including meats, eggs, dark green leafy vegetables, fruits, cooking oils, and beans. In addition, children in the intervention group gained significantly more weight and length and experienced faster growth velocity for both. These results provide further evidence that well-designed and implemented educational interventions can improve complementary feeding and growth in low-income but food-secure populations.
Point-of-use micronutrient fortification of school meals improves nutritional status
June 2010
The June 2010 issue of The Journal of Nutrition revealed results from a trial in India that tested the nutritional impact of school meals fortified onsite with a micronutrient premix. Investigators randomly assigned schools to receive either premix containing approximately 75 percent of the recommended daily allowance of iron, vitamin A, zinc, folic acid, and vitamin B-12, or a placebo premix. School cooks used the premix six days per week for eight months to prepare daily meals for children ages 6 to 10 years old, using scoops calibrated to measure for ten or two children. After adjusting for age, sex, and C-reactive protein (a measure of infection), children who received the fortified meals had higher total body iron and serum retinol, folate, and vitamin B-12 concentrations, and lower prevalence of low serum retinol, serum folate, and serum vitamin B-12. The authors concluded that point-of-use fortification of school meals using existing infrastructure is a cost-effective, locally acceptable, and sustainable way to implement micronutrient fortification programs.
Do low-phytate maize or zinc supplements enhance growth?
May 2010
An article published in the May 2010 issue of The Journal of Nutrition presents the results of a trial that measured the effect of giving low-phytate maize, zinc supplements, or both on linear growth velocity among infants aged 6 to 12 months in Guatemala. Stunting prevalence is high in this population, and zinc deficiency—resulting from low zinc intake and the absorption-reducing effects of high-phytate diets—is a suspected cause. Maize tends to be high in phytic acid, which inhibits zinc absorption. Infants were first randomized to receive either ‘control’ maize or low-phytate maize, and then randomized to receive either 5-mg zinc tablets or placebo daily. Infants who received zinc had higher serum zinc concentrations, but that did not translate to better growth. The authors suggested that the lack of an effect from low-phytate maize may be due to relatively low maize consumption in this age group, and especially due to low zinc intake from complementary foods such that total zinc intake may have been too low to demonstrate an effect of using low-phytate maize. The lack of an impact on child growth—despite higher-plasma zinc concentration—underscores the need to improve scientific understanding of the relationship between zinc and growth. Most notable, the authors say, is the high rate of stunting at an early age in this population, for which scientists, to date, have no conclusive explanation.
Does exclusive breastfeeding reduce HIV transmision by reducing mastitis?
March 2010
An article in the March 2010 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases explores the hypothesis that lower frequency of mastitis among women who exclusively breastfeed (EBF) is the mechanism by which mother-to-child transmission of HIV (MTCT) is less common among EBF mothers than among those who practice mixed feeding. That is, the reduced suckling resulting from mixed feeding may lead to engorgement and mastitis, which in turn is associated with increased viral load and increased MTCT risk. Contrary to their hypothesis, the investigators found no association between mixed feeding and either mastitis (measured as elevated breast milk sodium-to-potassium ratio) or breast milk viral load. Even so, the authors confirmed earlier findings of an association between mastitis and breast milk HIV load, and also identified a positive interaction between mastitis and maternal plasma HIV load, by which the association between mastitis and breast milk HIV load strengthens with increasing plasma HIV load. Examining the MTCT impact of this interaction, they found that mastitis was associated with MTCT only when maternal HIV load was high, and even was protective when maternal HIV load was low—possibly due to increased levels of anti-infective factors resulting from mastitis. Thus, the increased MTCT risk of mixed feeding was not mediated by mastitis, and a new finding suggests further inquiry concerning the role of anti-infective factors.
The issue features a commentary on the article by Louise Kuhn, entitled: “Milk Mysteries: Why Are Women Who Exclusively Breast-feed Less Likely to Transmit HIV during Breast-Feeding?”
View more research highlights.
Photo: Aurelio Ayala III
Indicates items collected by 
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) funded this website under the terms of Cooperative Agreement No. GPO-A-00-06-00008-00. The information provided on this website is not official US Government information and does not represent the views or positions of USAID or the US Government.