Different Approaches of Micronutrient Therapy to Improve Linear Growth of Stunted Egyptian Children

A micronutrient supplementation program was implemented at the stunted outpatient clinic of National Nutrition Institute (NNI) among many other efforts to achieve positive effect on linear growth of Egyptian young children during 2010.The Aim of the Present Study: Is to investigate the effect of supplementation of mixture of micronutrient on linear growth if it is taken on daily, alternate days and weekly bases.The Study is Designed: As an intervention study included one hundred and fifty stunted Egyptian children aged 5-10 years old. The children were randomly assigned to 1 of three groups, fifty children in each group. All subjects were given nutrition education and in addition they were given the treatment protocol according to the group for six months. The first group used the daily supplementation therapy with micronutrient, the second group used the alternate day supplementation therapy with micronutrient, and the third group used the weekly supplementation therapy with micronutrient. Height and weight were measured at baseline and monthly thereafter until the end of supplementation. Follow-up of height gain was done monthly and Z score was calculated for height for age and body mass index.Results: Showed that administration of a multiple micronutrient supplement for 6 months to children aged 5-10 years resulted in a significant height gain denoting the success of the micronutrient therapy in improving height in the three groups. Group that followed weekly therapy show the best level of improvement in height with a mean difference of 3.19cm at the end of supplementation. This may be due to good compliance and easy administration of weekly therapy.As a Conclusion: Multiple micronutrient interventions on weekly bases can improve linear growth of stunted Egyptian children. Additional studies are needed to investigate the optimum composition of supplements and frequency of delivery on wider scale.