Christine P Stewart1, K Ryan Wessells1, Charles D Arnold1, Lieven Huybregts2, Per Ashorn3, Elodie Becquey2, Jean H Humphrey4, Kathryn G Dewey1. 1. Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA. 2. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA. 3. Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland. 4. Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Undernutrition is associated with an elevated risk of mortality among children in low- and middle-income countries. Small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNS) have been evaluated as a method to prevent undernutrition and improve infant development, but the effects on mortality are unknown. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to evaluate the effect of LNS on all-cause mortality among children 6-24 mo old. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of LNS designed to prevent undernutrition, with or without other interventions. Literature was searched in May 2019 and trials were included if they enrolled children between 6 and 24 mo old and the period of supplementation lasted ≥6 mo. We extracted data from participant flow diagrams and contacted study investigators to request data. We conducted a meta-analysis to produce summary RR estimates. RESULTS: We identified 18 trials conducted in 11 countries that enrolled 41,280 children and reported 586 deaths. The risk of mortality was lower in the LNS arms than in the non-LNS comparison arms (RR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.59, 0.89; 13 trials). Estimates were similar when trials with maternal LNS intervention arms were added or when alternative formulations of LNS were excluded. The results appeared stronger in trials in which LNS were compared with passive control arms. Excluding these contrasts and only comparing multicomponent arms with LNS groups and comparison groups that contained all the same components without LNS attenuated the effect estimate (RR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.61, 1.10). CONCLUSIONS: LNS provided for the prevention of undernutrition may reduce the risk of mortality, but more trials with appropriate comparison groups allowing isolation of the effect of LNS alone are needed.This study was registered at www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO as CRD42019128718.
BACKGROUND: Undernutrition is associated with an elevated risk of mortality among children in low- and middle-income countries. Small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNS) have been evaluated as a method to prevent undernutrition and improve infant development, but the effects on mortality are unknown. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to evaluate the effect of LNS on all-cause mortality among children 6-24 mo old. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of LNS designed to prevent undernutrition, with or without other interventions. Literature was searched in May 2019 and trials were included if they enrolled children between 6 and 24 mo old and the period of supplementation lasted ≥6 mo. We extracted data from participant flow diagrams and contacted study investigators to request data. We conducted a meta-analysis to produce summary RR estimates. RESULTS: We identified 18 trials conducted in 11 countries that enrolled 41,280 children and reported 586 deaths. The risk of mortality was lower in the LNS arms than in the non-LNS comparison arms (RR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.59, 0.89; 13 trials). Estimates were similar when trials with maternal LNS intervention arms were added or when alternative formulations of LNS were excluded. The results appeared stronger in trials in which LNS were compared with passive control arms. Excluding these contrasts and only comparing multicomponent arms with LNS groups and comparison groups that contained all the same components without LNS attenuated the effect estimate (RR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.61, 1.10). CONCLUSIONS: LNS provided for the prevention of undernutrition may reduce the risk of mortality, but more trials with appropriate comparison groups allowing isolation of the effect of LNS alone are needed.This study was registered at www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO as CRD42019128718.
Authors: Kathryn G Dewey; K Ryan Wessells; Charles D Arnold; Elizabeth L Prado; Souheila Abbeddou; Seth Adu-Afarwuah; Hasmot Ali; Benjamin F Arnold; Per Ashorn; Ulla Ashorn; Sania Ashraf; Elodie Becquey; Jaden Bendabenda; Kenneth H Brown; Parul Christian; John M Colford; Sherlie J L Dulience; Lia C H Fernald; Emanuela Galasso; Lotta Hallamaa; Sonja Y Hess; Jean H Humphrey; Lieven Huybregts; Lora L Iannotti; Kaniz Jannat; Anna Lartey; Agnes Le Port; Jef L Leroy; Stephen P Luby; Kenneth Maleta; Susana L Matias; Mduduzi N N Mbuya; Malay K Mridha; Minyanga Nkhoma; Clair Null; Rina R Paul; Harriet Okronipa; Jean-Bosco Ouédraogo; Amy J Pickering; Andrew J Prendergast; Marie Ruel; Saijuddin Shaikh; Ann M Weber; Patricia Wolff; Amanda Zongrone; Christine P Stewart Journal: Am J Clin Nutr Date: 2021-11-02 Impact factor: 7.045
Authors: Marjorie J Haskell; Kenneth Maleta; Charles D Arnold; Josh M Jorgensen; Yue-Mei Fan; Ulla Ashorn; Andrew Matchado; Nagendra K Monangi; Ge Zhang; Huan Xu; Elizabeth Belling; Julio Landero; Joanne Chappell; Louis J Muglia; Mikko Hallman; Per Ashorn; Kathryn G Dewey Journal: Curr Dev Nutr Date: 2022-03-07