Evaluation of the Impact of a Food Program on the Micronutrient Nutritional Status of Argentinean Lactating Mothers

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of a food aid program (Plan Más Vida, PMV) on the micronutrient nutritional condition of lactating mothers 1 year after its implementation. The food program provided supplementary diets (wheat- and maize-fortified flour, rice or sugar, and fortified soup) to low-income families from the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. A prospective, non-experimental study was carried out to evaluate the micronutrient nutritional status of lactating mothers (n = 178 at baseline and n = 151 after 1 year). Biochemical tests (hemoglobin, ferritin, zinc, vitamin A, and folic acid), anthropometric assessments (weight and height) and dietary surveys (24-h recall) were performed. We found no significant changes in anthropometric values 1 year after the intervention. The risk for vitamin A (retinol 20-30 μg/dl) and folate deficiency significantly decreased 1 year after PMV implementation (56.3 vs. 29.9 and 50.3 vs. 3.4 %, respectively; p < 0.001). Anemia was seen in 25.8 % of lactating mothers at baseline, without statistically significant differences 1 year after (p = 0.439). The nutritional data obtained after assessing the early impact of PMV actions may be useful to provincial health authorities to perform periodic evaluations in the future.

Short-Term Evaluation of the Impact of a Fortified Food Aid Program on the Micronutrient Nutritional Status of Argentinian Pregnant Women

“…Regarding vitamin A, results are comparable since the risk of vitamin A deficiency improved in both pregnant and lactating women. In the case of serum zinc levels, they did not improve after the intervention neither in this report nor in the previous one [11].…”

“…Findings in this study are similar to those reported for lactating women after PMV implementation [11]. In both cases, folic acid levels improved as a result of the implemented intervention.…”

“…1). Similar results have been observed in children and lactating women beneficiaries of food programs, reporting a shift to the right in the serum retinol distribution curve [11,39].…”

“…Sample selection at each study point was based on a previous food program census in the province that identified districts and neighborhoods receiving food programs, number of families in each block, and name of beneficiaries in each family, as already described [11,12]. Briefly, the conglomerate sample was designed using simple random sampling; we obtained 25 sample points (neighborhoods) from 11 municipalities of the province of Buenos Aires, representing 85 % of the beneficiary population.…”

Anaemia, Morphological Classification and Its Associated Risk Factors Among Lactating Mothers at Mbarara City Council Health Centre IV, Southwestern Uganda

“…This finding is comparable with studies from Kenya 25%, 13 Tanzania with 22% 12 and several studies in Ethiopia 22.1%, 11 28.3% 15 and 28.9%. 19 Our study was also similar to studies in Argentina and Nepal, with 25.8% 20 and 20%, 21 respectively.…”