Effect of nutritional supplementation with lipid-based therapeutic food on body composition of non-severely malnourished African children aged 6–59 months hospitalized with severe pneumonia

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorNalwanga, Damalie
dc.contributor.authorMusiime, Victor
dc.contributor.authorKiguli, Sarah
dc.contributor.authorOlupot-Olupot, Peter
dc.contributor.authorAlaroker, Florence
dc.contributor.authorOpoka, Robert
dc.contributor.authorTagoola, Abner
dc.contributor.authorMnjala, Hellen
dc.contributor.authorMogaka, Christabel
dc.contributor.authorNabawanuka, Eva
dc.contributor.authorGiallongo, Elisa
dc.contributor.authorKaramagi, Charles
dc.contributor.authorBriend, Andr’e
dc.contributor.authorMaitland, Kathryn
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-01T14:20:39Z
dc.date.available2026-07-01T14:20:39Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.descriptionArticle
dc.description.abstractPneumonia remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality among children in low- and middle-income countries. Poor outcomes are associated with undernutrition. Nutritional supplementation may be beneficial. We examined the effect of supplementation with lipid-based ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) on the body composition of children with severe pneumonia. Non-severely malnourished children (6–59 months) with severe pneumonia enrolled into the Children’s Oxygen Administration Strategies and Nutrition trial in Uganda and Kenya and randomized to receive a diet supplemented with RUTF (500 Kcal/day) for 56 days versus usual diet alone (control) were included. We assessed arm anthropometry and bioimpedance analysis at admission and days 28, 90, and 180 of follow-up. We used mixed effects linear regression to compare body composition between groups. We included 737 participants (369 in intervention; 368 in control group). The median age was 16 months (IQR; 9, 26), and 58.1% were male. Overall, baseline mean arm fat area (AFA), arm muscle area and arm muscle circumference were 5.8 ± 1.8 cm2, 11.6 ± 2.3 cm2, and 12.3 ± 1.2 cm2, respectively. The mean fat mass and fat-free mass calculated in 116 participants were 5.5 ± 1.5 kg and 5.5 ± 1.5 kg, respectively. There were modest increases in most body composition parameters. RUTF significantly increased AFA at days 28 and 90 but not at day 180 (P-value ¼ .03, .02, and .99, respectively). RUTF did not change other body composition parameters. Despite initial increases in AFA, RUTF did not change the body composition of children with severe pneumonia. KEYWORDS: bio-impedance analysis; body composition; children; fat-free-mass fat-mass; malnutrition; pneumonia; ready-to-use therapeutic food
dc.description.sponsorshipThe European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (RIA2016S-1636, TMA2020CDF-3198) ; Busitema University.
dc.identifier.citationNalwanga, D., Musiime, V., Kiguli, S., Olupot-Olupot, P., Alaroker, F., Opoka, R., Tagoola, A., Mnjala, H., Mogaka, C., Nabawanuka, E., Giallongo, E., Karamagi, C., Briend, A., & Maitland, K. (2025). Effect of nutritional supplementation with lipid-based therapeutic food on body composition of non-severely malnourished African children aged 6–59 months hospitalized with severe pneumonia. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics, 71(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/tropej/fmaf010
dc.identifier.urihttps://bdears.busitema.ac.ug/handle/123456789/7082
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherOxford University Press
dc.relation.ispartofseriesJournal of Tropical Pediatrics; 2025, 71(2), fmaf010
dc.titleEffect of nutritional supplementation with lipid-based therapeutic food on body composition of non-severely malnourished African children aged 6–59 months hospitalized with severe pneumonia
dc.typeArticle
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
Effect of nutritional supplementation with lipid-based therapeutic food_2025.pdf
Size:
1.72 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed to upon submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Department of Public Health