(OR38-01-24) A 6-Mo Daily Egg Intervention Does Not Affect Infant Development or Height Relative to Standard Nutrition Care in Guatemala: The Saqmolo’ Project Randomized Controlled Trial

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

10:00 AM – 10:12 AM CT

Location: W375A

Presenting Author(s)

Alison L. Steiber, PhD, RDN (she/her/hers)

Chief Mission, Impact and Strategy Officer
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Shaker Heights, Ohio, United States

Disclosure(s): Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Employee (Ongoing)
Administration for Community Living: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing)
American Council on Exercise: Advisory Committee/Board Member (Ongoing)
Brightseed: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing)
Egg Nutrition Center: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing)
National Kidney Foundation: Advisory Committee/Board Member (Ongoing)
US National Dairy Council: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing); Speaker/Speaker's Bureau (Ongoing)

Co-Author(s)

Gabriela Montenegro-Bethancourt, PhD

Early Complementary Feeding of Eggs in Rural Guatemala Research Fellow
Maya Health Alliance / Wuqu Kawoq
Tecpán, Chimaltenango, Guatemala
Gabriela V. Proaño, MS, RDN (she/her/hers)

PhD Student
Florida International University
Plantation, Florida, United States
EJ

Elizabeth Jimenez, PhD, RDN, LD

University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
TW

Taylor C. Wallace

George Washington University, Think Healthy Group, LLC, District of Columbia, United States
XM

Xingya Ma

University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
MJ

Ming Ji

University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
PR

Peter Rohloff

Maya Health Alliance, Chimaltenango, Guatemala

Objectives: The Saqmolo’ randomized controlled comparative effectiveness trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04316221) evaluated effects of adding one egg per day to local standard nutrition care on global development and height in Guatemalan Indigenous Maya infants.

Methods: Infants aged 6-9 mo old were randomly assigned to one of two groups for 6 mo. The local standard of nutrition care provided to all children included growth monitoring, nutrition education, parasite treatment, and multiple micronutrient supplements (chispitas). The intervention group additionally received a monthly egg delivery (one egg/day). Infant anthropometrics were measured and infant development and diet quality were assessed using the Caregiver Reported Early Childhood Development (CREDI) long form and WHO infant and young child feeding indicators. Point-of-care hemoglobin was evaluated using capillary blood samples (HemoCue^® Hb201+). Caregivers reported medical history, home play activities, and provision of eggs and chispitas to infants. Multilevel generalized linear regression models including random effect of village were used to determine intervention effects on change in infant development scores and height, adjusting for infant and household characteristics.

Results: 1,200 infants with median (interquartile range [IQR]) age of 7.1 (6.5-8.0) mo enrolled, and 1,088 completed the study. About half (49%) were girls, and 19% were low birthweight. About half of infants were stunted (50%) and anemic (58%) at baseline. At endline, sixty-nine percent achieved minimum dietary diversity and caregivers reported conducting median (IQR) 3 (2, 4) out of 6 play activities with the child. Characteristics were similar between the groups, except that caregivers of intervention infants reported providing a higher median number of chispitas (+~1/wk) and eggs (+~15/mo) at most study visits. Multilevel modeling analyses showed that the intervention was not associated with change in infant development scores (β = -0.11; p=0.149) and was associated with less change in height (β= -0.24, p=0.046) compared with standard of nutrition care alone.

Conclusions: Addition of a daily egg to standard nutrition care for 6-mo did not positively impact infant global development or height in rural Guatemala.

Funding Sources: U.S. Egg Nutrition Center