Short Term Effect of Lipid-Based Nutritional Supplement on Caloric Intake, Appetite, Glucose, and Insulin Levels in Moderately Malnourished Children

Background: Malnutrition is a major health problem specially effecting children under the age of 5 years. Malnutrition has serious outcomes such as suppressed immune system, delayed and stunted growth, slow wound healing etc. Objective: To look into the impact of a lipid-based nutritional supplement on caloric intake, appetite, glucose and insulin levels of school going children of age 5-10years. Methods: In this single blind randomized controlled trial, 38 children with BMI (Z score between-2 and -3SDS) were randomly allocated to Lipid based nutritional supplements & Placebo groups. They were given supplements (535kcal) /Placebo (92kcal). They were served ad libitum buffet meals (breakfast and lunch). The appetite responses were measured by marking the Likert scale questionnaire at 0, 30, 60, 120, 150, 180, 210 and 240 minutes. The total caloric intake was calculated for the ad libitum buffet breakfast and lunch. The insulin and glucose levels were measured using COBAS C3 analyzer. Result: On the trial day, there was no significant difference in total caloric intake between lipid based nutritional supplements LNS (766.3272.4) kcal and Placebo (806311.5) kcal. Appetite was measured using a Likert scale, but no significant differences were found between the two groups. There was also no significant difference between glucose in the LNS vs. PLACEBO, i.e. (929.13 vs.97.111.7) mg/dL and insulin (1.6±0.97 vs. 2.09±1.15) µU/mL in both the groups. Conclusion: In mildly underweight children the Lipid based nutritional supplements reduces the caloric intake from the regular habitual diet, which extends to the lunch time. This suppression of caloric intake might be related to the changes in appetite.