The effect of a 1-year multiple micronutrient or n-3 fatty acid fortified food intervention on morbidity in Indian school children

• Published in: European journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 66; no. 4; pp. 452 - 458
• Main Authors: Thomas, T, Eilander, A, Muthayya, S, McKay, S, Thankachan, P, Theis, W, Gandhe, A, Osendarp, S J M, Kurpad, A V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01-04-2012; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Age; alpha-Linolenic Acid - administration & dosage; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Children; Clinical Nutrition; Cluster Analysis; Confidence intervals; Dietary Supplements; Diets; Docosahexaenoic acid; Docosahexaenoic Acids - administration & dosage; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Double-Blind Method; Elementary school students; Epidemiology; European Continental Ancestry Group; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids, Omega-3 - administration & dosage; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Fortified foods; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Health aspects; Humans; Illnesses; India - epidemiology; infection; Internal Medicine; Intervention; Linolenic acid; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Micronutrients; Micronutrients - administration & dosage; Morbidity; Nutrients; Nutrition; Nutrition Policy; Nutritional aspects; original-article; Physiological aspects; Public Health; Regression Analysis; Respiratory tract; Respiratory tract diseases; Respiratory Tract Infections - epidemiology; Statistical analysis; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Asia; India; Netherlands; Bengaluru India; schoolchildren; fatty acids; multiple micronutrients; morbidity; Human; Multiple; Lipids; Metabolic diseases; n-3 fatty acids; n-3 fatty acid; Epidemiology; School environment; Morbidity; Micronutrient; School; School age; Unsaturated fatty acid; Indian; Child; Food
• ISSN: 0954-3007; 1476-5640
• DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2011.178

Background/Objectives:
Few studies have shown that supplementation with micronutrients (MNs) or
n-3
fatty acids may have health benefits such as reduced morbidity in schoolchildren. The effect of a combination of these nutrients has never been investigated. This study aimed to determine the effect of a combination of two different doses of MN and
n-3
fatty acids on morbidity in schoolchildren in Bangalore, India.
Subjects/Methods:
In all 598 children (6–10 years) received foods fortified with either high (100% recommended dietary allowance) or low (15% recommended dietary allowance) MN, combined with either high (900 mg α-linolenic acid (ALA) plus 100 mg docosahexaenoic acid) or low (140 mg ALA)
n-3
fatty acids for 1 year. Morbidity was measured by weekly self-reports using a structured questionnaire. Poisson regression analyses of episodes/child/year and duration/episode adjusted for age and sex were performed on clusters of symptoms, including upper and lower respiratory tract infections (URTI and LRTI), gastrointestinal complaints (GI) and general symptoms of illness to observe MN and
n-3
fatty acid treatment effects.
Results:
Children consuming high
n-3
fatty acids had significantly fewer episodes of URTI/child/year (relative risk (RR)=0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.79, 0.97) and significantly shorter duration/episode of URTI (RR=0.81, 95% CI: 0.78, 0.85), LRTI (RR=0.91, 95% CI: 0.85, 0.97), GI complaints (RR=0.79, 95% CI: 0.74, 0.85) and general symptoms (RR=0.90, 95% CI: 0.82, 0.98) compared with children who received low
n-3
fatty acid intervention. The high MN intervention reduced the duration of general symptoms (RR=0.89, 95% CI: 0.82, 0.98).
Conclusion:
Although
n-
3 fatty acids may be beneficial for reducing illness in Indian schoolchildren, more research is needed to confirm presence of combined effect with MN.