The effectiveness of micronutrient supplementation on anthropometric status among female school children 11 to13 years old in ethnic minority semi boarding secondary schools in Yen Bai province in 2019

Abstract

The overall objective of this research is to evaluated the effectiveness of multiple micronutrient supplementation on anthropometric status among female school children 11 to 13 years old ( -4 < HAZ < -1) in ethnic minority semi boarding secondary schools in Yen Bai province, using WHO (2007) classifications. A double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted among 472 school girlsdivided into 2 groups. The multi-micronutrient supplements consist of vitamin A (400mcg), vitamin D3 (15 mcg), zinc (6.5 mg) and 17 other micronutrients as recommended by WHO (2016). Each of the subject received one tablet everyday x 5 days/week for 6 months. All of the children were dewormed by Albendazole 400 mg at baseline. Results showed that Results: After three and six months, the intervention group improved better than the placebo group of average weight, height, HAZ, and BMI. Assessing the effectiveness of the intervention, the rate of wasting after 3 and 6 months, the intervention group decreased by 17.5% and 5.8% compared to the placebo group. The difference in average weight of the two groups after 3 months was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The other anthropometrics (height, BMI, HAZ) did not have statistical significance between the two groups after 3 and 6 months of intervention (p > 0.05).