Spirulina Supplementation and Infant Growth, Morbidity and Motor Development

Summary

Background: In developing countries, micronutrient deficiency in infants is associated with growth faltering, morbidity, and delayed motor development. One of the potentially low-cost and sustainable solutions is to use locally producible food for the home fortification of complementary foods.

Objective: The objectives are to test the hypothesis that locally producible spirulina platensis supplementation would achieve the following: 1) increase infant physical growth; 2) reduce morbidity; and 3) improve motor development.

Design: 501 Zambian infants are randomly assigned into a control (CON) group or a spirulina (SP) group. Children in the CON group (n=250) receive a soya-maize-based porridge for 12 months, whereas those in the SP group (n=251) receive the same food but with the addition of spirulina. The change in infants' anthropometric status, morbidity, and motor development over 12 months are assessed.

Conditions

• Stunting
• Underweight
• Pneumonia, Pneumocystis
• Cough
• Malaria
• Fever
• Motor Delay

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Spirulina

Arthrospira platensis, also known as spirulina, is a blue-green micro-algae indigenous to Africa. Spirulina group (n=251) receive a soya-maize-based porridge with the addition of spirulina. We used 10 g per day of spirulina powder with a mealie meal and soya flour porridge blend.

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Control

Children receive a soya-maize-based porridge for 12 months. We use a mealie meal and soya flour porridge blend.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hitotsubashi University

  collaborator OTHER

• Alliance Forum Foundation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Programme Against Malnutrition

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Kazuya Masuda, PhD · Hitotsubashi University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

6 Months

Max Age

18 Months

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2015-03-01

Primary Completion

2016-04-30

Completion

2018-01-30

Countries

• Zambia

Study Locations