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the Effect of High Caloric Oral Nutritional Supplements on Growth and Development of Malnourished Children

Not Applicable
Not yet recruiting
Conditions
Nutritional Deficiency
Undernutrition
Malnourishment
Malnutrition, Child
Interventions
Behavioral: nutritional education
Dietary Supplement: high caloric oral nutritional supplements
Behavioral: dietary guidance
Registration Number
NCT05911893
Lead Sponsor
Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University
Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate the effect of high caloric oral nutritional supplements on body proportion, weight, linear growth pattern, neuropsychological development level and related health aspects (gut health, immune function, quality of life, etc.) in participants aged 1 to 3 years who are malnourished (underweight and wasting),as well as to evaluate the safety of applying high caloric oral nutritional supplements. Participants will receive nutritional education and daily high caloric oral nutritional supplements(experimental group),or will receive nutritional education and dietary instruction(control group).This study may provide data to support the development of clinical intervention strategies for malnourished Chinese children.

Detailed Description

Background:Growth and development is an important indicator of children's health and nutritional status, and nutrition is the most important material basis for growth and development. The prevention and treatment of malnutrition in children can be achieved by choosing whole nutritional formulas for special medical purposes as oral nutritional supplements (ONS), which has been confirmed by some overseas clinical studies to promote the growth benefit of malnourished children, but no multicenter clinical study has been conducted in China on the effect of ONS on the improvement of growth and development of malnourished Chinese children.

Objective and significance: To investigate the effects of high caloric ONS on body proportion, weight, linear growth pattern, neuropsychological development level and related health aspects (gut health, immune function, quality of life, etc.) in children, as well as to evaluate the safety of applying high caloric ONS, and to provide data to support the development of clinical intervention strategies for malnourished Chinese children.

Research design:A multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial design method is used to randomize children who meet the inclusion criteria into the experimental and control groups using a competitive entry method. The test group is given nutritional education and high caloric ONS (which can supplement 30% of the energy requirement), while the control group is given nutritional education and dietary instruction.Participants are followed up at 0, 1,2, 3, 6, and 12 months of enrollment. The investigators will collect dietary diaries, physical indicators, developmental quotient scores, quality of life measures, gut health, infectious disease-related questionnaires and safety indicators (blood biochemical indicators, urine routine) from children in both groups to comprehensively assess the effect of high caloric ONS intervention on physical growth, neuropsychological development levels and related aspects (gut health, immune function, quality of life, etc.) of malnourished children, as well as to conduct safety analyses.

Sample size:According to similar studies to date, a total of 800 people are recommended for this study.

Statistical analysis: Statistical analysis is performed using SAS 9.4. For continuous variables (height, weight, BMI-Z score, DQ score, etc.), statistical descriptions are performed using mean and standard deviation (conforming to normal distribution) or median and interquartile range (IQR); for categorical variables, statistical descriptions are performed using frequency and percentage; for the main efficacy indicators, mixed-effects models are used for efficacy evaluation indicators according to the principle of adjusted intentionality analysis (mITT). For the safety evaluation, the number, frequency and incidence of adverse events and reactions are calculated, and the positive abnormal changes of laboratory biochemical indexes such as blood routine, urine routine, liver and kidney function are counted. p value \< 0.05 is considered statistically significant.

Ethical matters and data protection: The guardians of the children participating in the study will sign an informed consent form. This study is approved by the local ethics committee. Patients' names will be abbreviated and study data will be assigned a code which will then be provided to the investigator. Parental authorization for patient health information will remain in effect until the study is completed. After that, private information will be removed from the study records by the researcher.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
800
Inclusion Criteria
  • Aged 1-3 years
  • BMI for Age Z-score<-2
  • Height-for-age z score<-2
  • Total daily energy intake<75% of recommended nutrient intake
  • The child's guardian is willing to participate in this study and sign an informed consent form.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Chronic or severe infectious disease (e.g., chronic hepatitis, HIV or tuberculosis infection)
  • Certain congenital or genetic diseases affecting physical growth and development (congenital heart disease, Down's syndrome, infantile anorexia nervosa, etc.), malignancies and use of drugs (diuretics, appetite stimulants, steroids and growth hormones, etc.)
  • Severe gastrointestinal disorders (e.g., celiac disease, short bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, etc.)
  • Acute and chronic respiratory/digestive tract infections within 2 weeks prior to enrollment
  • Allergy or contraindication to any of the ingredients in the high-energy total nutrition formula used in this study
  • Have used high-energy enteral nutrition preparations for the last 3 months

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
nutritional education and dietary guidance groupdietary guidanceParticipants aged 1 to 3 years who are malnourished (underweight and wasting). They will receive nutrition education and dietary instruction.
nutritional education and dietary guidance groupnutritional educationParticipants aged 1 to 3 years who are malnourished (underweight and wasting). They will receive nutrition education and dietary instruction.
high caloric oral nutritional supplements grouphigh caloric oral nutritional supplementsParticipants aged 1 to 3 years who are malnourished (underweight and wasting). They will receive nutritional education,dietary instruction and daily high caloric oral nutritional supplements for 12 months.
high caloric oral nutritional supplements groupnutritional educationParticipants aged 1 to 3 years who are malnourished (underweight and wasting). They will receive nutritional education,dietary instruction and daily high caloric oral nutritional supplements for 12 months.
high caloric oral nutritional supplements groupdietary guidanceParticipants aged 1 to 3 years who are malnourished (underweight and wasting). They will receive nutritional education,dietary instruction and daily high caloric oral nutritional supplements for 12 months.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
BMI for Age Z-score(BAZ)at 6 months of enrollment

Trained research assistants or health care practitioners obtain weight in kilograms and height in centimeters (mean of 3 consecutive measurements). Height and weight will be combined to report BMI in kg/m\^2.Then, the BAZ is calculated using WHO2011v3.2.2 software.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Dietary Diaryat 0, 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 months of enrollment

Participants provide a dietary diary over an average two-day period through a WeChat app each visit. The app prompts participants to record and estimate details of all meals and snacks they consumed, especially formula used in the study.

Urine Routine Testat 0, 6 and 12 months of enrollment

Urine routine test is completed at 0, 6 and 12 months of enrollment for safety analysis.Includes the following parameters:urinary bilirubin,urinary ketone bodies,blood,urinary white blood cells,urinary red blood cells,urinary sugar,urinary protein,urinary cast.

Height for Age Z-score(HAZ)at 0, 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 months of enrollment

Trained research assistants or health care practitioners obtain height in centimeters using a standardized approach. Height is measured with a calibrated stadiometer(mean of 3 consecutive measurements). Then, the HAZ is calculated using WHO2011v3.2.2 software.

Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL)at 0, 6, and 12 months of enrollment

The quality of life of the participants is assessed using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory.The Infant Scale or Generic Core Scales is completed according to age.Scores are transformed on a scale from 0 to 100,with higher scores indicating better quality of life.

Infectious Diseases Related Questionnaireat 0, 1,3, 6, and 12 months of enrollment

A infectious disease-related questionnaire is used to understand immune function, including the number and duration of upper respiratory tract infections, infectious diarrhea.

Renal Function Testat 0, 6 and 12 months of enrollment

Renal function test is completed at 0, 6 and 12 months of enrollment for safety analysis.Includes the following parameters:creatinine,blood urea nitrogen.

BMI for Age Z-score(BAZ)at 0, 1, 2, 3 and 12 months of enrollment

Trained research assistants or health care practitioners obtain weight in kilograms and height in centimeters (mean of 3 consecutive measurements). Height and weight will be combined to report BMI in kg/m\^2.Then, the BAZ is calculated using WHO2011v3.2.2 software.

the Chinese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF)at 0, 6 and 12 months of enrollment

The quality of life of parents is assessed using the WHOQOL-BREF.The WHOQOL-BREF, comprises 26 items, two general items and 24 others, across the following four domains: physical (7 items), psychological (6 items), social (3 items), and environmental (8 items).Calculate the average score of all items in each domain, converted into a score of 4 to 20 or 0 to100 by two algorithms,with higher scores indicating better quality of life.

Gut Health Questionnaireat 0, 1,3, 6, and 12 months of enrollment

A questionnaire is used to understand gut health, including entries on the Bristol Stool Scale (to assess stool status), the average number of bowel movements per day, and the frequency of bloating and abdominal pain.

Blood Routine Testat 0, 6 and 12 months of enrollment

Blood routine test is completed at 0, 6 and 12 months of enrollment for safety analysis.Includes the following parameters:white blood cell count,red blood cell count,hemoglobin,mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration,platelet,standard deviation in red cell distribution width,coefficient variation of red blood cell volume distribution width,platelet distribution width,mean platelet volume,platelet larger cell ratio,thrombocytocrit,neutrophil ratio,lymphocyte ratio,monocyte ratio,eosinophil ratio,basophil ratio,neutrophil count,lymphocyte count,monocyte count,eosinophil count,basophil count.

Weight for Age Z-score(WAZ)at 0, 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 months of enrollment

Trained research assistants or health care practitioners obtain weight in kilograms using a standardized approach. Weight is measured using a precision digital scale or mechanical scale(mean of 3 consecutive measurements). Then, the WAZ is calculated using WHO2011v3.2.2 software.

Gesell Developmental Scale Testat 0, 6, and 12 months of enrollment

Mainly assesses participants in 5 areas:adaptive behavior, gross motor, fine motor, language behavior,personal-social behavior, the evaluation finally calculates the developmental quotient (DQ) of each area. Diagnostic criteria: DQ is more than or equal to 86 is normal, DQ is marginal between 76 and 85, DQ is mild mental retardation between 55 and 75, DQ is moderate mental retardation between 40 and 54, DQ is severe mental retardation between 25 and 39, and DQ is less than or equal to 25 is extremely severe mental retardation.

Infants - Junior High School Students Social Competence Test (S-M test)at 0, 6, and 12 months of enrollment

The scale, derived from the revised version of the Japanese Social Competence test (S-M test) and revised by a Chinese researcher, is applicable to children from 6 months of age to 14 years of age and includes 132 items in 6 sections with 7 starting ages, which are filled in item by item by parents or daily caregivers according to the appropriate age, with ≥10 being normal.

Liver Function Testat 0, 6 and 12 months of enrollment

Liver function test is completed at 0, 6 and 12 months of enrollment for safety analysis.Includes the following parameters:total protein,albumin,globulin,alanineamino transferase,aspartate amino transferase,bilirubin,direct bilirubin,total bile acid,alkaline phosphatase,amma-glutamyl transpeptidase.

Trial Locations

Locations (12)

Hunan Children's Hospital

🇨🇳

Changsha, Hunan, China

Anhui Provincial Children's Hospital

🇨🇳

Hefei, Anhui, China

Guiyang Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital

🇨🇳

Guiyang, Guizhou, China

Chengdu Women's and Children's Central Hospital,School of Medicine,University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

🇨🇳

Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Children's Hospital of The Capital Institute of Pediatrics

🇨🇳

Beijing, Beijing, China

Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center

🇨🇳

Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

Growth, Development and Mental health of Children and Adolescence Center

🇨🇳

Chongqing, Chongqing, China

Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital

🇨🇳

Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Jiangxi Maternal and Child Health Hospital

🇨🇳

Nanchang, Jiangxi, China

Baoji Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital

🇨🇳

Baoji, Shanxi, China

Xianyang Children's Hospital

🇨🇳

Xianyang, Shanxi, China

Kunming Children's Hospital

🇨🇳

Kunming, Yunnan, China

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