TITLE:
Nutritional and Clinical Rehabilitation of Severely Malnourished Children with Moringa oleifera Lam. Leaf Powder in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)
AUTHORS:
Urbain Zongo, Steve Léonce Zoungrana, Aly Savadogo, Alfred S. Traoré
KEYWORDS:
Malnutrition; Anthropometric Parameters; Hemoglobin; Side Effects; Moringa Leaves
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.4 No.9,
August
30,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Malnutrition in all its
forms remains one of the most serious and neglected health problem. This
longitudinal study referred pragmatic was carried out, which tested or aimed to
assess the impact of Moringa leaf powder on the nutritional status of
malnourished children. It was a pilot study in Ouagadougou severely
malnourished children using Moringa as a nutritional supplement. We
investigated the correlations and the impact of Moringa leaf powder on the
nutritional status. A sample of 110 children aged 6 59 months were recruited
and randomly selected and assigned to two treatments Group I and Group II. They
received the CREN’s standard nutritional care diet but the Group I received
more dose of 10 g of
Moringa leaf powder per day. At the end, a significant improvement in the key
parameters was recorded in both groups. However, the group receiving the Moringa
supplement recorded a higher average weight gain (8.9 ± 4.3 g/kg/day, against 5.7 ± 2.72 g/kg/day in Group II) and a quicker
recovery rate, with an average stay of 36 ± 16.54 days, against 57 ± 19.20 days
amongst those not receiving the Moringa supplement. There is no significant improvement
in hemoglobin rate in either group (p = 0.060 Group I, p = 0.063 Group II). Tolerability
was considered to be good, as there were no recorded cases of medical
admittance, no any occurrence of digestive disorders. The supplementation of
Moringa leaf powder appears to be effective in improving the nutritional recovery
of severely malnourished children.