Anthropometric Changes In School Children On Moringa Oleifera Nutrient Supplement In Nigeria

Background: The important factors that influence growth of children are nutrition and infection. The best method of assessing the health and nutrition of the individual child is by longitudinal monitoring of growth. Moringa oleifera is documented to improve nutrition. Its effect on nutritional status of children and rate of re-infection with helminth parasite in a rural school was assessed. Methods & Materials: The study location was in Anambra State, Nigeria. The design was randomized quasi longitudinal study. A total of 144 pupils aged 2 to 6 years from two primary schools were randomly selected. Thereafter their anthropometry, haemoglobin and stool examined. They were dewormed using 400 mg of Albendazole before being fed daily (five times a week) with Standardized Jollof Rice (SJR) as lunch packs prepared by the dietician to meet 1/3rd WHO nutritional daily allowance, served with 25 g of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) approved Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MOLP). Lunch packs without MOLP served as controls. Data collected were analysed using SPSS version 20. Ethical approval was obtained prior to commencement of the study. Results: Participants fed on MOLP after 2 months had increased height F (1,142) =38.99 and weight F (1,142)=9.35 at P< 0.05 than the controls. However, no difference was observed on BMI. Interaction pattern of MOLP and gender on weight showed that males who were fed on MOLP benefitted significantly on weight than other males on Placebo. Gender as a covariate, while MOLP and age as independent variables; significant differences were seen regards to age on height and weight F (3, 143) =129.33, F(3,143) = 14.18 @ P<0.001. Significant interaction of MOLP and age on weight were also found F (3,134) = 2.85 @ P < 0.03 level of testing. Participants aged 3, 4, 5, years fed on MOLP had marked increase in weight compared with the control. However, the opposite was found among the 2 years participants. Conclusion: Preliminary data showed MOLP can improve anthropometric values in children and thus improve nutrition, with male pupils gaining more weight than females. This therefore shows gender difference in nutritional improvement among children fed with MOLP.