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Nourishing for Knowledge: Fish Powder in School Meals in Malawi

NCT07085871 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 270

Last updated 2025-07-25

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Background: This randomized controlled trial (RCT) is a research component of a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) project in Malawi. The project aims to initiate pilot programs to integrate fish powders into existing home-grown school feeding program frameworks and meals served in selected schools in Malawi. The objective of the RCT is to assess the impact on dietary diversity and nutrition status (through biomarker analysis) of children receiving school meals in selected pilot schools.

Trial Design: This will be a two-armed single-blinded RCT with a closed cohort design, featuring two parallel groups with a 1:1 allocation ratio. The intervention will include 3-5g of fish powder added to the school meal (per 100g serving) five days per week, while the control group will receive the usual school meal. Children (n=270) of at least 10 years of age will be enrolled in the study. The primary outcome variable is the difference between the two arms in the contribution of school meals to zinc concentration measured in dried blood spots (DBS).

Conditions

  • Zinc Concentration in DBS

Interventions

OTHER

Fish Powder

This RCT aims to test the effectiveness of fish powder (produced from dried fish from Lake Malawi - Lake Malawi sardine) used to fortify school meals. The intervention meal will be the normal school meal, however substituing 3-5g of ingredients (such as soya flour, maize flour or groundnut flour) for 3-5g of fish powder.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Institute of Marine Research

    collaborator OTHER

  • University of Bergen

    collaborator OTHER

  • Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Alexander Kalimbira, PhD · Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
10 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-04-15
Primary Completion
2026-07-31
Completion
2026-07-31

Countries

  • Malawi

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07085871 on ClinicalTrials.gov