© 1981 Oxford University Press
research-article |
Dried Skimmed Milk, Breast-Feeding and Illness Episodes- a Controlled Trial in Young Children in Khartoum Province, Sudan
*Department of Home Science, University of Khar-toum, Democratic Republic of Sudan
**Evaluation and Planning Centre, Ross Institute, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Gower Street, London, WC1, UK.
Department of Nutrition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine London, UK.
Tropical Epidemiology Unit, Ross Institute, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine London, UK
Zumrawi F [Department of Home Science, University of Khartoum, Democratic Republic of Sudan], Vaughan JP, Waterlow JC and Kirkwood BR. Dried skimmed milk, breast-feeding and illness episodes — a controlled trial in young children in Khartoum Province, Sudan. International Journal of Epidemiology 1981, 10: 303–308. In a controlled trial mothers and children attending urban maternal and child health (MCH) clinics in Khartoum Province were given a fortnightly take home food supplement of 1 Kilogram of dried skimmed milk (DSM) or an equivalent amount of local beans. There were approximately 300 children aged 6–26 months in each group and each child was followed for 3 to 6 months. A comparison of the two groups showed: a) that the DSM group mothers were more likely to continue breastfeeding; b) there was no evidence to associate DSM with an increased incidence of episodes of diarrhoea, fever or vomiting; c) the utilisation of health institutions was very similar in the two groups; and d) there was no significant difference in the mothers‘ assessment of the proportion of children with a ‘poor’ appetite in either group. This trial met with considerable methodological problems and the results should therefore be interpreted cautiously. There is a great need for more and better designed trials to assess the possible adverse effects of DSM.
Received 27 May 1981