Use of Fermented Foods to Combat Stunting andFailure to ThriveShailee Saran, MSc, Sarath Gopalan, MD, and T. Prasanna Krishna, PhD

Presented by Victoria HahnNUT 190

Background: What are they talking about? Can fermented foods fight off failure to thrive and stunting? Lactobacillus, as well as, Bifidobacterium are the most commonly used probiotics (in favor of life). They are found in fermented foods such as yogurt, kimchi, kombucha, ect. These types of foods have been shown to have marked positive increases in: 1) Nutrient content 2) Control intestine disorders 3) Can be used to treat food allergies 4) Can help to increase weight gain during

development

(cont.) Why do we care?1) Child malnutrition is an epidemic in many developing

countries.2) 3 to 4 millions annual deaths occur from acute

diarrhea. - 20 to 30% of those deaths are from children. This study focused on the high rate of stunting and

failure to thrive in India. 50% of children less than 5 years of age are stunted in India! Why?1) Impaired gut-mediated immune function2) Impaired nutrient absorption in the small intestines3) Poor appetite

What can bacteria do for the kids?

With the hypothesis of, “Failure to thrive is the result of damage to gut epithelium incurred during repeated bouts of gastrointestinal infections,” the use of Lactobacillus as a treatment came to mind.

Lactobacillus containing foods as a low-cost treatment option.

Objective: What did they plan to do?They set out to investigate:1) The effect in poor Indian communities of supplements

with probiotics on children 2 to 5 years regarding growth.

2) Assess differences in morbidity between those being treated (experimental group) and those not being treated (control).

Their goal was to promote epithelial regrowth with Lactobacillus-rich foods.

Method: How did they do this?

Kirby Place, New Delhi (India)

Subjects- 100 children from Kirby Place.

-Half were part of the control group, half were the experimental.

Duration - 6 monthsControl (n=50) - 2

biscuitsExperimental (n=50) -

50mL of beet-dyed curd

(cont.)-Supplements were taken on site.-They used disposable vessels to give the supplements

to ensure hygienic conditions and no spillage.-Intake records were maintained daily.-Anthropomorphic data was taken for each child

monthly.-Recorded a weekly Morbidity Profile.

Result: What did they find?A significant increase in the weight and height of the experimental group in comparison to the control group.

There was also a significant difference in the number of cases of diarrhea and fever, but not cough and cold.

Discussion: What can we say about this study?Lactobacillus acidophilus may:1) Be beneficial in being a low cost treatment for diarrheal

morbidity.2) Accelerate gut-lining regrowth and thus a beneficial

means to preventing stunted growth.3) May inhibit or help to mitigate the inflammatory

response as seen by the reduction in diarrhea and fever.

Conclusion: Further thoughts on this research This study calls out for more investigative research on the benefits of probiotics. This could include: - a longer trial time with the same procedures -utilizing Bifidobacterium instead of Lactobacillus - the addition of prebiotics along with probitotics to see if there is an accelerated boost. -effect of Lactobacillus on the inflammatory response

Questions? Thoughts? Opinions?