A Randomized Trial of Iron-Biofortified Pearl Millet in School Children in India ,

Abstract

Fe-PM significantly improved iron status in children by 4 mo compared with Control-PM. This study demonstrated that feeding Fe-PM is an efficacious approach to improve iron status in school-age children and it should be further evaluated for effectiveness in a broader population context. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02152150.

Investment in child and adolescent health and development: key messages from Disease Control Priorities , 3rd Edition

“…School feeding may help children and adolescents receive sufficient nutrients and grow. The inclusion of micronutrient-rich foods or powders may address anemia and support improved cognition (Abizari and others 2012;Abizari and others 2014;Finkelstein and others 2015). School meals may also foster understanding of healthy diets and behaviors that can extend beyond school and throughout life, particularly if nutrition education is incorporated into the program (Kubik and others 2003;Story, NeumarkSztainer, and French 2002).…”

Biofortified Crops Can Alleviate Micronutrient Deficiencies: Review of Evidence from Randomized Feeding Trials

“…In the studies on iron biofortified crops the biochemical tests that were done to test improvement in the iron status were: Inflammation (measured by C-reactive protein and α-1-acid glycoprotein concentrations) [14,15], total body iron [13][14][15][16][17][18]21,22], haemoglobin concentration [16], serum ferritin concentration [13][14][15][16][17], acute phase proteins [18] and serum transferrin receptor concentration [19]. The baseline cut-offs for each of the parameter differed among the studies (Table 2).…”

“…Studies [13][14][15]17,18] revealed that the subjects' ferritin and total iron increased significantly after feeding intervention with high iron biofortified crops. There was notable increase in the total body iron for subjects who were deficient at the baseline.…”

“…The micronutrient status of the subjects at the baseline differed. Some were deficient [14,17,18] while others were healthy [19]. At entry into the study, all women had haemoglobin concentrations>110 g/L and plasma ferritin concentrations<25 µg/L The subjects were randomly divided into two groups; Group 1 (n=12) received a meal of typical common beans (CB), Group 2 received a test meal of high iron/Zinc beans (HFEZnB)…”

“…The biofortified crops that were used in the studies were; Vitamin A (Orange) maize [25,26,29], vitamin A (yellow) cassava [24], Vitamin A (Orange) sweet potatoes [23,27,28], high iron beans [13,15,16,19,22], iron pearl millet [14,18,21], Zinc wheat [32], High iron rice [17], high zinc maize [31], High zinc millet [21] and high zinc beans [22].…”