Animal source foods have a positive impact on the primary school test scores of Kenyan schoolchildren in a cluster-randomised, controlled feeding intervention trial.

Micronutrient deficiencies and suboptimal energy intake are widespread in rural Kenya, with detrimental effects on child growth and development. Sporadic school feeding programmes rarely include animal source foods (ASF). In the present study, a cluster-randomised feeding trial was undertaken to determine the impact of snacks containing ASF on district-wide, end-term standardised school test scores and nutrient intake.

Low vitamin B12 intake during pregnancy and lactation and low breastmilk vitamin 12 content in rural Kenyan women consuming predominantly maize diets.

Background: Vitamin B12 deficiency during pregnancy and lactation may negatively affect fetal growth, brain development, pregnancy outcome, and breastmilk vitamin B12 content.

Objective: To examine associations between pregnant and lactating women's vitamin B12 intake and pregnancy outcomes, breastmilk vitamin B12 concentration, and growth and development of breastfed infants from birth to 6 months.

Methods: One hundred thirty-eight Kenyan women were followed during pregnancy, with 98 followed through 6 months of lactation and providing 294 randomly collected breastmilk samples.

School snacks decrease morbidity in Kenyan schoolchildren: a cluster randomized, controlled feeding intervention trial.

Objective: To examine the effects of three different school snacks on morbidity outcomes.

Design: Twelve schools were randomized to either one of three feeding groups or a Control group. There were three schools per group in this cluster randomized trial.

Meat supplementation increases arm muscle area in Kenyan schoolchildren.

The present study examines the effect of animal-source-food (ASF) intake on arm muscle area growth as part of a larger study examining causal links between ASF intake, growth rate, physical activity, cognitive function and micronutrient status in Kenyan schoolchildren. This randomised, controlled feeding intervention study was designed with three isoenergetic feeding interventions of meat, milk, and plain traditional vegetable stew (githeri), and a control group receiving no snack. A total of twelve elementary schools were randomly assigned to interventions, with three schools per group, and two cohorts of 518 and 392 schoolchildren were enrolled 1 year apart.

Meat and milk intakes and toddler growth: a comparison feeding intervention of animal-source foods in rural Kenya.

Objective: To examine the effects of animal-source foods on toddler growth.

Design: A 5-month comparison feeding intervention study with one of three millet-based porridges randomized to eighteen feeding stations serving 303 children aged 11-40 months. Feeding stations served plain millet porridge (Plain group), porridge with milk (Milk group) or porridge with beef (Meat group).

Effects of a school feeding intervention on school attendance rates among elementary schoolchildren in rural Kenya.

Objective: A randomized controlled school feeding intervention offered an opportunity to determine whether school feeding resulted in improved school attendance among elementary schoolchildren in a rural district of Kenya.

Methods: Twelve schools with a total of 554 children in the 1998 first-grade cohort were randomly assigned to four research groups, three of which received a fortified local staple-based snack (Githeri meal) at morning recess. The groups--designated as Meat-Githeri, Milk-Githeri, and Energy-Githeri--received a recess meal that provided 240 kcal in the first school year and 313 kcal for the remainder of study period.

Dietary micronutrients are associated with higher cognitive function gains among primary school children in rural Kenya.

With the exception of iodine and Fe, there is still very limited information on the effect of micronutrients on cognitive function, especially among school-age children. The present analysis evaluates the relationship between dietary Fe, Zn and B vitamins (B12, B6, folate and riboflavin) and gains in cognitive test scores among school children in rural Kenya. Data for the present study were obtained from The Child Nutrition Kenya Project, a 2-year longitudinal, randomised controlled feeding intervention study using animal source foods.

The potential of increased meat intake to improve iron nutrition in rural Kenyan schoolchildren.

Schoolchildren in developing countries often have inadequate intakes of iron, due primarily to poor bioavailability. Increasing meat in the diet could improve both the amount of iron consumed and its availability. The effect of increases in intakes of meat and ascorbic acid on absorbed iron was investigated by theoretically modifying the habitual diet of rural Kenyan schoolchildren.

Neonatal nutrition and later outcomes of very low birth weight infants at Kenyatta National Hospital.

Background: Extensive research in developed countries has established that very low birth weight (VLBW) infants are particularly vulnerable to the effects of early nutritional deficiencies. There is, however, little information from poor countries on the long-term effects of these deficiencies in such infants.

Objective: Determine the association between neonatal feeding regimens and post-discharge morbidity/ mortality and neurological abnormalities at the age of two years for a cohort of VLBW infants.

Meat supplementation improves growth, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes in Kenyan children.

A randomized, controlled school feeding study was conducted in rural Embu District, Kenya to test for a causal link between animal-source food intake and changes in micronutrient nutrition and growth, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes. Twelve primary schools were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups. Children in Standard I classes received the local plant-based dish githeri as a midmorning school snack supplemented with meat, milk, or fat added to equalize energy content in all feedings.

Designing snacks to address micronutrient deficiencies in rural Kenyan schoolchildren.

Three snacks were designed to improve nutrient intakes among school-age children living in rural Kenya. Snacks containing animal-source foods (milk and meat) provided more nutrients than an equicaloric vegetarian snack. The vegetarian snack provided extra vitamin A (primarily from fortified cooking fat; the milk snack was rich in calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin B-12; and the meat snack supplied vitamin B-12, iron, and zinc.

Low plasma vitamin B-12 in Kenyan school children is highly prevalent and improved by supplemental animal source foods.

The high prevalence of vitamin B-12 deficiency in many regions of the world is becoming recognized as a widespread public health problem, but it is not known to what extent this deficiency results from a low intake of the vitamin or from its malabsorption from food. In rural Kenya, where a previous study identified a high prevalence of inadequate vitamin B-12 intakes, this study examined whether plasma vitamin B-12 concentrations were associated with dietary sources of the vitamin at baseline and could be increased by supplementation with animal source foods (ASF). The 4 experimental groups in 503 school children were: 1) control (no food provided); 2) githeri (a maize and bean staple with added oil); 3) githeri + meat (githeri + minced beef); or 4) githeri + milk (githeri + milk).

Intake of micronutrients high in animal-source foods is associated with better growth in rural Kenyan school children.

Observational studies have shown that children in developing countries consuming diets containing high amounts of bioavailable nutrients, such as those found in animal-source foods, grow better. The present study investigated which specific nutrients from the diet of Kenyan school children predicted their growth. The children (n 544, median age 7 years) participated in a 2-year long food supplementation study with animal-source foods.

Diet quality affects the playground activities of Kenyan children.

The present study examined the effects of a school breakfast program on the activity level, emotional state, and social interactions of a group of Kenyan schoolchildren on the playground. Five hundred forty children in rural Kenya participated in the study. The first standard (grade) classes were randomly assigned to groups provided for 21 months with school breakfasts of equivalent caloric value while families with children in the control group were given a goat at the end of the study.

Child nutrition in developing countries.

Malnutrition permeates all aspects of health, growth, cognition, motor and social development of young children in developing countries. More than 50% of deaths in these children can be attributed to malnutrition, most often in conjunction with serious infection. Irreversible and lifelong sequelae prevent children from reaching their full potential.

Kenyan school children have multiple micronutrient deficiencies, but increased plasma vitamin B-12 is the only detectable micronutrient response to meat or milk supplementation.

Animal source foods (ASF) can provide micronutrients in greater amounts and more bioavailable forms compared to plant source foods, but their intake is low in many poor populations. However, the impact of ASF on micronutrient status of undernourished populations has not been assessed. Supplemental meat (60-85 g/d), milk (200-250 mL/d) or energy (isocaloric with the meat and milk, 240-300 kcal/d) were randomly assigned to 555 undernourished school children aged 5-14 y in a rural malaria-endemic area of Kenya, at one school meal daily for one school year.

The impact of dietary intervention on the cognitive development of Kenyan school children.

Previous observational studies in developing countries have suggested that diet quality, particularly increased animal source food (ASF) consumption, is positively associated with child cognitive development. This report presents findings from a study in rural Kenya, designed to test the impact of three different diets on the cognitive development of school children. Twelve schools with a total of 555 Standard 1 children (equivalent to U.

Food supplements have a positive impact on weight gain and the addition of animal source foods increases lean body mass of Kenyan schoolchildren.

Observational studies of dietary patterns and growth and studies with milk supplementation have shown that children consuming diets containing animal source foods grow better. This study evaluates the growth of 544 Kenyan schoolchildren (median age 7.1 y) after 23 mo of food supplementation with a meat, milk or energy supplement (approximately 1255 kJ) compared to a control group without a supplement.

School snacks containing animal source foods improve dietary quality for children in rural Kenya.

Provision of a snack at school could help alleviate the micronutrient malnutrition that is common among schoolchildren in developing countries. The Child Nutrition Project was designed to compare the efficacy of three school snacks in improving growth and cognitive function of children in rural Kenya. The snacks provided approximately 20% of the children's energy requirement, and were composed of equicaloric portions of githeri (a vegetable stew) alone (Energy group), githeri plus milk (Milk group) or githeri plus meat (Meat group).

Animal source foods improve dietary quality, micronutrient status, growth and cognitive function in Kenyan school children: background, study design and baseline findings.

A previous longitudinal three-country study in Egypt, Kenya and Mexico found significant positive associations between intake of animal source foods (ASF) and growth, cognitive development and physical activity. To test for a causal relationship, a controlled school feeding intervention study was designed to test the hypotheses that ASF would improve micronutrient status, growth and cognitive function in Kenyan primary school children. Twelve rural Kenyan schools with 554 children were randomized to four feeding interventions using a local vegetable stew as the vehicle.

The need for animal source foods by Kenyan children.

Food intake and dietary patterns in Kenyan households have been studied since the 1920s. Reports on breastfeeding, nutrient intake, micronutrient deficiencies and the impacts of malaria and intestinal parasites on nutritional status are reviewed. Diets are mainly cereal-based, with tubers and a variety of vegetables and fruits when available.