Objective: To investigate the effect of daily iron supplementation for 14 weeks on the serum iron concentration and other markers of iron status in exclusively breastfed infants in Gambia.
Methods: A placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind trial was performed in rural Gambia between 3 August 2021 and 9 March 2022. Overall, 101 healthy, exclusively breastfed infants aged 6 to 10 weeks were recruited at vaccination clinics and through community health workers.
Objective: Efficacy studies show early nutrition interventions improving infant nutrition status, but understanding caregiver acceptability is required for implementation of such interventions. This systematic review examines caregivers' perceptions of nutrition interventions in young children.
Design: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and PsychINFO from date of online journal inception through December 2020.
: Micronutrient deficiencies remain common worldwide, but the consequences to growth and development in early infancy (under six months of age) are not fully understood. We present a systematic review of micronutrient interventions in term infants under six months of age, with a specific focus on iron supplementation. : We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE (Ovid) and Embase (Ovid) from January 1980 through December 2019.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA recent analysis showed that plasma iron concentrations decline rapidly from birth in Gambian infants, irrespective of sex or birthweight, to concentrations well below normal expected values for iron-replete children older than two months of age (typically >10 μmol/L). The development and function of neural and immune cells may thus be compromised before the minimum age at which children should receive iron supplementation as per World Health Organisation recommendations. This study is a two-arm, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised superiority trial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: In most sub-Saharan African countries iron deficiency anaemia remains highly prevalent in children and this has not changed in the last 25 years. Supplementation with iron hydroxide adipate tartrate (IHAT) was being investigated in anaemic children in a phase two clinical trial (termed IHAT-GUT), conducted at the Medical Research Council Unit the Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) (abbreviated as MRCG hereof). This qualitative study aimed to explore the personal perceptions of the trial staff in relation to conducting a clinical trial in such settings in order to highlight the health system specific needs and strengths in the rural, resource-poor setting of the Upper River Region in the Gambia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIron deficiency remains the largest nutritional deficiency worldwide and the main cause of anaemia. Severe iron deficiency leads to anaemia known as iron deficiency anaemia (IDA), which affects a total of 1·24 billion people, the majority of whom are children and women from resource-poor countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, iron deficiency is frequently exacerbated by concomitant parasitic and bacterial infections and contributes to over 120 000 maternal deaths a year, while it irreparably limits the cognitive development of children and leads to poor outcomes in pregnancy.
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