Understanding the effect of feeding practices of babies on their health status in rural areas through various approaches

Recruiting

Conditions: Healthy full term new borns

Registration Number: CTRI/2019/07/020029

Lead Sponsor: Vidya Rajesh

Brief Summary: Adequate nourishment is important for physical growth and mental development during infancy. It is also a phase of maximum brain development wherein insufficient food intake would lead to irreversible damage (Rai, 2011). Assessing the nutritional status of rural infants is pivotal, as about 67% of Indian population still live in rural areas (data world bank, 2018). In India, research prioritization in Maternal, Newborn, Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN) themes have traditionally involved only a handful of experts mainly hailing from major cities (Narendra K. Arora, 2017). This gives the opportunity to review infant nutritional status in a rural population.

Development of the gut microbiota during infancy functions as an important determinant of future health status (Yang, 2016). Dietary habits regulate what we are â€œfeedingâ€ our microbiota (Kashtanova, 2016), as the nutrient provided acts as a substrate for microbial metabolism. Diet composition and feeding practices during the first years of life may impact the diversity and functional capacity of the gut microbiome with potential downstream effects on infant development and disease risk (Johnson & Versalovic, 2012). Gut microbiome is now believed to affect the body mass index (BMI), as well as cognitive and neurological developments. Studying the growth trajectory and developmental milestones will provide a clear picture of the inter-relationship among nutrition, gut microbiome, BMI and development in an infant.

Malnutrition is also linked with impaired immunity with consequently increased risk to infections and cytokine activation (Uday A. Paia, 2018). Studying the frequency of acute respiratory infections (ARI) and acute diarrheal diseases (ADD), which are the most common illnesses in infancy, will aid in co-relating the impact of nutrition and composition of gut microbiome on the health profile of infants.

The study aims to evaluate the impact of infant nutrition in terms of feeding practices and nutrition composition on infant health with reference to multidimensional aspects including growth trajectory, development milestones, gut microbiome and disease pattern.

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Open to Recruitment

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 400

Inclusion Criteria

Healthy full-term babies born in TMA Pai Rotary Hospital, Karkala.
cohort- Mother and baby pair residing within 30kms of Karkala.

Exclusion Criteria

Babies born before 37 weeks of gestation or having congenital abnormalities.
Mothers not willing to participate in the study.

Study & Design

Study Type: Observational

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
To be able to evaluate the effect of type of infant feeding and nutrient composition of the diet on the development of gut microbiome.	4th year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
To analyze the effect of infant nutrition-gut microbiome association on body composition, the frequency of infectious diseases and development milestones in infants.	4th year

Trial Locations

Locations (1): Dr TMA Pai Rotary Hospital
🇮🇳
Udupi, KARNATAKA, India
Dr TMA Pai Rotary Hospital
🇮🇳Udupi, KARNATAKA, India
Vidya Rajesh
Principal investigator
9482275837
vidya.poojary@manipal.edu