Clinical Research Directory

Expanding Coverage of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) Treatment in Kenya

Child wasting is a type of malnutrition which occurs when a child becomes too thin. This medical condition increases the risk of becoming sick or dying. A child with severe wasting needs to be seen in a medical consultation to check on health status and to receive some medicine and a medical food supplement for daily consumption until cured. Yet, only a small proportion of children suffering from severe wasting are presently receiving appropriate treatment. In Kenya, there is an opportunity to build on the existing network of community health promoters (CHPs) to increase the number of children with wasting who are identified and treated. In intervention areas, CHPs will be equipped with smartphones and an application which provides guidance on household members to visit and simple actions to take, related to health. CHPs will distribute color-coded mid-upper arm circumference tapes to households with young children and train caregivers on how to use it. After training, CHPs will send Short Message Services (SMS) to remind caregivers to regularly measure the arm circumference of the child. In addition, CHPs will receive a scale to measure the weight of children every month. Finally, wasted children registered in the treatment program who fail to attend a planned consultation will be flagged to their CHP through the phone application, and CHPs will conduct a specific home visit to investigate and help solve potential issues. The study will assess whether this community intervention (called SWITCH) allows to identify and treat more children suffering from severe wasting. Before the start of the intervention, the proportion of wasted children receiving treatment in 40 community units in Turkana South, Turkana East and Aroo will be assessed. After this survey, a computer will randomly select 20 community units where the intervention will be scaled up. The survey will be repeated after 2 years to assess if the proportion of severely wasted children receiving treatment is higher in the area where the intervention was scaled up compared to the area where it was not scaled up. In addition, after 1 year of implementation, the study will assess how the intervention was scaled up, what are the main challenges, and what are the overall perceptions on the intervention in the community among those who receive it and those who deliver it. Finally, costs of the various components of the intervention will be measured for all actors involved, including for caregivers.

Increasing the Coverage of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) Treatment in Ethiopia

The R-SWITCH intervention aims to address the low coverage of treatment for severe wasting (SAM) by leveraging existing community groups to deliver an integrated package focused on prevention, screening, referral, and treatment of SAM. It includes behavior change communication on child nutrition and health, active screening, improved passive screening at health posts, and follow-up of referred cases and those enrolled in outpatient treatment programs (OTP). The primary objectives of the R-SWITCH studies are to assess the intervention's impact on OTP coverage, identify implementation barriers and facilitators, and evaluate its cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

the Effect of High Caloric Oral Nutritional Supplements on Growth and Development of Malnourished Children

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate the effect of high caloric oral nutritional supplements on body proportion, weight, linear growth pattern, neuropsychological development level and related health aspects (gut health, immune function, quality of life, etc.) in participants aged 1 to 3 years who are malnourished (underweight and wasting),as well as to evaluate the safety of applying high caloric oral nutritional supplements. Participants will receive nutritional education and daily high caloric oral nutritional supplements(experimental group),or will receive nutritional education and dietary instruction(control group).This study may provide data to support the development of clinical intervention strategies for malnourished Chinese children.

From Kitchen to Clinic

Children receiving cancer treatment often experience nutrition-related challenges, such as changes in appetite, weight, and food intake, due to treatment side effects and the demands placed on families during care. These challenges can increase caregiver stress, reduce diet quality, and contribute to short- and long-term health risks for children. While medically tailored meals have been shown to improve nutrition and reduce burden in adults with serious illness, their use in pediatric cancer care has not been well studied. This pilot study will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a 12-week, family-centered food-as-medicine program for children undergoing active cancer treatment and their caregivers. The program combines weekly delivery of medically tailored meals with individualized caregiver coaching provided by registered dietitian nutritionists. During the first eight weeks, families receive full meal support and weekly coaching sessions, followed by a four-week transition period with tapered meal delivery and bi-weekly coaching to support sustainable nutrition practices. A total of 60 pediatric patients and their caregivers will be enrolled at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The study will assess whether families can be successfully recruited and retained, whether they are able to participate in study activities, and whether the program is acceptable and usable during cancer treatment. The study will also explore preliminary effects on children's dietary intake, weight and growth patterns, treatment tolerance, household nutrition security, and caregiver stress and burden.

Treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition in Children 6 to 59 Months Old With Standard Ready To Use Therapeutic Food Compared to a Newly Formulated Lipid Optimized Ready To Use Therapeutic Food

The goal of this randomized clinical trial is to learn if a newly formulated Lipid-Optimized Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (LO-RUTF) can treat severe acute malnutrition in children aged 6 to 59 months. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Does LO-RUTF impact physical recovery from severe acute malnutrition in participants? 2. Does LO-RUTF impact neurocognitive performance after 8 and 12 weeks of treatment? Researchers will compare LO-RUTF to standard RUTF see if our energy-dense food compares to standard issue RUTF in terms of promoting recovery from severe acute malnutrition. Participants will * Take a one-week ration of LO-RUTF or standard RUTF based on the participant's weight * Return every week for checkups, tests and to receive the next ration of assigned RUTF if eligible * Be assessed for neurocognitive function through Malawi Developmental Assessment Tool (MDAT) at three time points (before treatment, 4 weeks, 12 weeks)

Efficacy of Mobile Health Application in Promotion of Exclusive Breast Feeding and Young Child Feeding Practices in Pakistan

Early life nutrition is the key modifiable determinant of child growth, development, survival and diseases of adult onset. Pakistan ranks highest for neonatal mortality rate (44.2/1000 live births (LBs)) globally. One third of under-five deaths (74.9/1000 LBs) are attributable to high prevalence of stunting (38%), underweight (23%) and wasting (7%), greatly related to feeding practices. Given the low prevalence of exclusively breast fed (EBF) (48%) and use of minimum acceptable diet (13%), mitigation of early life nutritional risk through promotion of EBF and Young Child Feeding Practices (YCFP) provides a critical window of opportunity for intervention. Secondary Care Hospitals (SCH) of the Aga Khan Health Services Pakistan provide essential maternal and child health services for low-middle income population. Babies born at these SCHs are followed up for vaccination, growth-monitoring and other services at the closely affiliated Family Health Centers (FHCs) run by Lady Health Visitors (LHVs). We aim to examine the effectiveness of a locally designed m-Health application for empowering mothers for child nutritional care as a potentially sustainable approach. The first six months of formative research would identify perceptions, barriers and facilitators for EBF and YCFP using self-determination behavioral theory, among multi-parous pregnant mothers enrolled at three SCHs of Karachi. A randomization trial would be conducted during next 18 months among near-term pregnant women who have access to smart-phones. A culturally appropriate mhealth application called first diet would be developed to provide personalized push messages delivered weekly by the LHVs. Non-intervention group will receive face-face nutritional counselling by the research staff at FHC following routine vaccination and growth-monitoring schedule. Mothers would followed-up from one month prior to expected delivery to child's first birthday. We expect 20% improvement in rates of EBF and YCFP with m-Health intervention. If proven effective, m-health would be incorporated in routine child care provision by LHVs.

Safety Study of SMOFlipid to Evaluate the Risk of Developing EFAD and/or PNAC in Pediatric and Adult Patients

Evaluate the risk of developing EFAD and/or PNAC in adult and pediatric patients 1 month of age and older, who are anticipated to need 8 weeks or longer of parenteral nutrition treatment with SMOFlipid.

Mother Screening for Relapse Using Mid-upper Arm Circumference Among Children Recovered From Severe Acute Malnutrition (Full Scale Trial)

A 1:1:1 individually randomized unmasked controlled trial is proposed in which caregivers will be trained to screen their children who have recovered from an episode of SAM (severe acute malnutrition) using MUAC (mid-upper arm circumference) tapes. One arm will include caregiver screening with a mid-upper arm circumference tape and usual monthly follow-up schedule for the first 3 months post enrollment and a final follow-up at 6 months. Another arm will include caregiver screening with a mid-upper arm circumference tape and a reduced follow-up schedule for one visit at 3 months and a final visit at 6 months. The third arm will adhere to the current standard of care, which is no caregiver training to conduct mid-upper arm circumference screenings and monthly clinic-based follow-up appointments for 3 months with a final visit at 6 months post enrollment. Children aged 6-54 months with a documented recovery from uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition that was managed in a participating outpatient nutritional program and their caregivers will be eligible for inclusion in the trial. Caregivers will be trained to screen their children weekly for 6 months following discharge from the nutritional program and will be counseled to bring their child back to the nutritional program should their mid-upper arm circumference value fall in the red zone of the mid-upper arm circumference tape (\< 11.5 cm). All children will be seen at 3 and 6 months for the primary outcome assessment. By conducting this study, our primary goal is to determine if training caregivers to screen their children for relapse to MAM (moderate acute malnutrition) or SAM (severe acute malnutrition) using mid-upper arm circumference tapes following recovery from SAM (severe acute malnutrition) will reduce the risk of relapse. An additional aim is to assess the level of acceptability of caregivers screening children for malnutrition using mid-upper arm circumference tapes from both a clinic and caregiver perspective.

Azithromycin as Adjunctive Treatment for Uncomplicated Severe Acute Malnutrition

Amoxicillin is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Because children with uncomplicated SAM may have asymptomatic infection due to immune suppression, presumptive treatment with a broad-spectrum antibiotic may be beneficial by clearing any existing infection and improving outcomes. Two randomized placebo-controlled randomized trials have evaluated amoxicillin for uncomplicated SAM and have found conflicting results. These results may indicate either that antibiotics are not helpful for the management of uncomplicated SAM, or that a better antibiotic is needed. Recently, the investigators demonstrated that biannual mass azithromycin distribution as a single oral dose reduces all-cause child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Children with uncomplicated SAM, who have an elevated risk of mortality relative to their well-nourished peers, may particularly benefit from presumptive azithromycin treatment. Our pilot data demonstrated feasibility in rapid enrollment of children with uncomplicated SAM in our study area, and showed no significant difference between azithromycin and amoxicillin, demonstrating equipoise for a full-scale trial. Here, the investigators propose an individually randomized trial in which children will be randomized to a) azithromycin, b) amoxicillin, or c) placebo, and evaluated for differences in weight gain, nutritional recovery, and the gut microbiome. The results of this study will strengthen the evidence base for policy related to the use of antibiotics as part of the management of uncomplicated SAM, including additional evidence of amoxicillin versus placebo as well as evaluation of an antibiotic class that has not been considered for uncomplicated SAM, which may lead to changes in guidelines for treatment.

YoUng Adolescents' behaViour, musculoskeletAl heAlth, Growth & Nutrition

More children will survive to adulthood today than at any other point in human history, as evidenced by the proportion of live births and absolute numbers. The present generation of young people who have lived to the age of five will reach adulthood around 2030 and will be the generation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These children's health and nutrition as they grow from 5 to 19 years will have permanent ramifications on the development of the coming generation. The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey was conducted between 2016 and 2018, indicating unacceptably high levels of malnutrition among Indian children and adolescents. It was discovered that one out of every five children aged 5 to 9 was stunted, indicating they were malnourished for their age. Undernourished girls are more likely to become short-statured mothers, giving birth to low-birth-weight and stunted newborns who are more prone to disease and linear growth failure. Evidence suggests that maternal short stature (less than 150 cm) predicts childhood growth failure and increases the risk of having a stunted baby by two years. The common genetic background and environmental influences that affect the mother during her early childhood and adolescence play a substantial role in the relationship between maternal stature and the linear growth of the child. This causes a cycle of undernutrition and poor growth that continues through generations and impacts the offspring's growth. Adolescence is a key period of physical and social development when the physiological, mental, and behavioural underpinnings of long-term health are established. The development of critical bone mass is crucial during this time because it lays the foundation for preserving bone mineral integrity later in life. During adolescence, over 40% of peak bone mass is achieved. Changes in body composition are also seen during early adolescence. These physiological processes are both nutritionally sensitive and predictive of their future health. Adolescent behaviour is also linked to 33 percent of sickness and 60 percent of premature deaths in adulthood. Because adolescence is also a critical period for the development of the ability to make independent decisions, follow them through, and achieve goals- enabling healthy social networks, is critical. This includes Social and Behavioural Change Communications, which can assist early adolescents create lifetime behaviour patterns, such as good nutrition and physical exercise choices. Investing in adolescent health and well-being pays off in three ways: during their adolescence, in their adulthood, and for their future offspring generations. Thus, young adolescence provides a "window of opportunity" for children to improve their nutritional health and outcomes. Therefore, this cohort aims to explore the trajectories of growth (including anthropometric measures, bone mass, and muscle mass and function) among rural young adolescents and its association with intergenerational nutritional status through a longitudinal study. A greater understanding of growth trajectories set in a longitudinal study would aid in the discovery of particular variables that influence the timing of young adolescents' growth and the factors associated with intergenerational nutritional status.

Lactoferrin and Lysozyme Supplementation for Long-term Diarrhea Sequelae

Children in low- and middle-income countries who are hospitalized for diarrhea and also have malnutrition are at high risk for illness and death in the 6 months period following treatment for diarrhoea despite receiving current guideline recommended diarrhea management (such as oral rehydration solution, or "ORS"). This study will test whether nutritional supplements made from milk (lactoferrin or lysozyme) or a combination of the two (lactoferrin and lysozyme) will prevent children from having repeated diarrhea episodes and help improve their nutrition by improving their stomach health or preventing new disease during this 6-month period. The study is taking place at 7 hospitals in Western Kenya. Six hundred participants will be enrolled if they provide informed consent to participate, are aged 6-24 months, were hospitalized with diarrhea and malnutrition and have been managed by the facility nutritionists and ready to return home. Participation in the study will entail providing information on the child's health history, collection of stool samples, blood, and potentially urine. The caregiver will be provided sachets of the investigational product to take home and mix daily with their child's porridge or other complimentary food, and asked to return to the clinic 4 times in the subsequent 6 months, and also consent to having a community health worker visit their home every two weeks for a follow up visit. The risks to the participant and their caregiver are minimal. The information gained in this study will help us create new treatments and develop new strategies to treat sick children to prevent death and illness.

The Influence of Probiotics on Metabolome and Heart Rate Variability in Heart Failure of Structure Heart Disease

Poor body weight gain and failure to thrive is a very common condition in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) with advanced HF and/or cyanosis, which are considered a predictor of morbidity and complicate the prognosis of CHD. Studies have been carried out an attempt to discover the mechanisms to improve the therapies and the prognosis of these patients. Some of these studies give the hypothesis that the gastrointestinal tract, more precisely the intestine, can collaborate with metabolome. Extra-intracardiac shunt and HF lead to hypoperfusion and cyanotic heart disease leads to hypoxia. These two conditions make the gastrointestinal tract of these patients to become more mal-absorption to food. Consequently, the poor intestinal microcirculation and resultant dysbiosis may contribute to poor body weight gain and the worsening of prognosis. As known, probiotics can help to maintain or recover the microbiota and maintain a healthy intestinal barrier. In view of the importance of microbiota to the metabolism and the possible beneficial effect in the prognosis of heart-failure patients and the performance of microbiota in maintenance of intestinal barrier, this study has as primary objective to verify the influence of supplementation of the probiotic Lactobacillus Rhamnosus in the patients with CHD. Malabsorption and dysbiosis in patients with CHD Poor body weight gain and failure to thrive is a very common condition in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Dysbiosis occurs in patients with CHD. Such dysbiosis and intestinal barrier dysfunction may become worsen after they underwent cardiopulmonary bypass, and complicate the prognosis of CHD. Probiotics and Metabolome in Heart failure Cumulative evidence shows increasing importance of microbiota and cardiovascular disease and health. Metabolomic changes are found in CHD patients with hypoxia. It is suggested that Lactobacillus strains function to promote cardiovascular-related conditions. However, the effect of probiotic administration on CHD remains controversial. The investigators propose that hypothesis that Lactobacillus Rhamnosus directly improve the body weight gain and indirectly improve the outcome of patients with CHD. Accordingly, the investigators initiate this clinical trial to testify the beneficial effect of Lactobacillus Rhamnosus on CHD.

Slow Introduction of Nutrition for Ill Malnourished Children

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if giving lower calorie feeds during the first stage of treatment helps improve survival in severely malnourished children who are ill. The main question it aims to answer is: Is it safe to feed ill severely malnourished children lower calorie feeds during the early treatment phase? Researchers will compare two lower calorie feeds (F50 and F35) to the standard feed (F75) to see if they help children recover safely without increasing their risk of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Participants will: * Receive one of the lower calorie feeds (F50 or F35) or the standard feed (F75) during their hospital stay. * Be closely monitored for low blood sugar and signs for worsening of clinical symptoms. * Be treated until they are stable and ready to be fed more calories to help them gain weight.

Childrens Real Food Tolerance Study

A prospective, longitudinal, 28-day intervention study evaluating the tolerance, compliance, acceptability and safety to two new enteral tube feed and one new oral nutritional supplement based on real food ingredients (1kcal/ml and 1.5kcal/ml enteral tube feeds and a 1.5kcal/ml oral nutritional supplement).

Transforming Health and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments: Mental Health, Psychosocial Support, and Climate-Smart Farming in Nakivale

The study aims to evaluate if enhancing the mental health of refugee mothers can make them better able to implement new farming methods that are meant to improve food security in the face of climate change. It is a cluster-randomized controlled trial involving 900 pairs consisting of refugee mothers and their children aged 36-59 months, living in Nakivale refugee settlement in Uganda. The mothers will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: * Control group: Mothers will receive Enhanced Usual Care (EUC). * HGI group: Mothers will receive the Home Gardening Intervention, consisting of training and supplies for home gardening. * HGI/SH+ group: Mothers will receive both the Home Gardening Intervention and the Self-Help Plus mental health intervention. The main goal is to see if the gardening program alone can reduce food insecurity after 12 months compared to the EUC control group. It also aims to see if reducing psychological distress by adding the mental health component boosts the effects of the gardening intervention. Secondary goals are to look at impacts on dietary diversity, child malnutrition, and mothers' mental health levels across all three groups. The study also gathers survey data on participant mothers' migration history, social capital, exposure to potentially traumatic events, exposure to natural hazards and environmental stressors, mental health, and parenting style. Both mothers and their children will furthermore play incentivized economic games to measure their economic preferences (time, risk, social preferences). Additionally, the study will assess children's well-being and functioning. Children will also be asked to carry out gamified tasks designed to measure their cognitive development.

Community-based, Controlled, Open-label, Cluster-randomized Trial for the Reduction of Chronic Malnutrition in Children Under Two Years of Age, With Three Intervention Arms Grouped by Clusters, in Two Provinces in Southern Angola, Huíla and Cunene.

The severity of the stunting in the provinces of Huíla and Cunene, Angola, in children aged 6 to 59 months is considered to be very high, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of 2018. Some of the strategies that present promising results in the fight against chronic malnutrition have been specific nutritional interventions and money transfers. Among these, those that have so far had a greater impact in reducing chronic malnutrition indicators are fortified foods and lipid-based nutrient supplementation in small amounts. The hypothesis of the study is that these interventions applied from pregnancy can significantly reduce chronic malnutrition, each of which may have different impacts. The study intends, therefore, to evaluate an intervention that aims to obtain the highest quality scientific evidence on the best package of sensitive and specific measures that reduce chronic malnutrition and mortality in children under 2 years of age, maintaining the fundamental premises of sustainability, cost-benefit ratio, and scalability for other regions of the country. To this end, it was designed a community trial randomized by clusters in which different strategies will be evaluated separately: * Standard Intervention The Standard package includes a series of actions carried out by Community and Health Development Agents (ADECOS), which are characterized by having demonstrated strong evidence of their effectiveness in the scientific literature, and are part of the WHO guidelines and national health guidelines in different countries, including Angola. * Standard+ NUT (Nutrients Arm - Control Arm): Standard Intervention plus nutritional supplementation * Standard+ TM (Money transfers Arm): Standard Intervention plus money transfers Study population: pregnant women with more than 16 years of age; however the target population of the interventions will be the household where the pregnant woman lives. The impacts of interventions on indicators of chronic malnutrition in children under 5 years of age belonging to the household will also be analyzed.

Prevalence of Intestinal Parasitic Infections in Under-Five Children With Malnutrition in Sohag, Egypt

This study aims to estimate the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in under-five children with malnutrition.

Implementation of P-INPAC

The framework for Pediatric Integrated Nutrition Pathway for Acute Care (P-INPAC) was developed by the Canadian Malnutrition Task Force (CMTF); however, it has not been implemented in a research setting. The framework by CMTF for Integrated Nutrition Pathway for Acute Care (INPAC) in adults was also implemented in the "More-2-Eat" project which led to development of best practices in nutritional culture of the hospitals. Therefore, we intend to undertake this feasibility project at 3-sites to train staff and evaluate the implementation of P-INPAC components as part of routine healthcare procedure.

Grandi Byen: Test of an Integrated Parenting and Nutrition Intervention

The premise of this trial is that a combined nutrition (eggs) and parenting behavior intervention (responsive parenting combined with the reinforcement of animal source foods and improved WASH) will synergistically result in improved child growth, development, and reduced enteric disease outcomes over and above a nutrition only intervention and standard well baby care. This study is a 3-arm longitudinal randomized controlled trial (RCT) to compare the following groups for effectiveness in reducing young child stunted growth and enhancing overall development:1) standard well-baby care, (n=200); 2) nutrition intervention (one egg per day for 6 months), (n=200); and 3) multicomponent Grandi Byen intervention (responsive parenting, nutrition, hygiene + one egg per day for 6 months), (n=200). Infants will be enrolled between 6-8 months of age and followed longitudinally for one year.

Hens Hatching Hope

The study is a prospective community-cluster non-randomized trial that will evaluate the effectiveness of a program that will provide 30-day egg vouchers to mothers of 6 to 24 month-old children living in rural areas of Intibucá, Honduras.

Effectiveness of a Microbiome-directed Food to Promote Programmatic and Sustained Nutritional Recovery Among Children With Uncomplicated Acute Malnutrition

This study is an individually randomized controlled trial comparing microbiome-directed foods to standard nutritional therapy among children aged 6 to \< 24 months with uncomplicated acute malnutrition in terms of programmatic recovery by 12 weeks from admission and sustained recovery at 24 weeks from admission.

Double Duty Interventions and Its Impact on Double Burden of Malnutrition in Children Under Five Years

Background: Double burden of malnutrition is an emerging public health problem among children under-five years due to the inevitable consequences of nutritional transition. Addressing these two contrasting forms of malnutrition (undernutrition and overnutrition) simultaneously brings an enormous challenge to the food and nutrition policies of developing countries like Ethiopia. Children under five ages are more vulnerable to DBM, especially during the first year of their life due to high growth and inadequate diet. Hence, there has been a paradigm shift in thinking to reduce its effect on the health of children. However, interventions that are used to address these different kinds of malnutrition are implemented through different governance and still, they are isolated and disintegrated each other. Therefore, double-duty interventions can tackle the risk of both nutritional problems simultaneously in an integrated approach through nutrition behavior change communication. Objective: Therefore, the main aim of this pilot study is to assess the effect of selected double-duty interventions on the double burden of malnutrition among children under five years in Debre Berhan City, Ethiopia.

The Impact of Malnutrition on Immune Responses to Tuberculosis

The aim of this study is to assess immune responses to Mtb in children with MAM compared to well-nourished children and to evaluate the impact of a nutrition intervention on these immune responses.

Nutritional Care After Discharge in Children Term Born-18years Old

The goal of this stepped wedge cluster randomized trial is to compare nutritional care after discharge to an intervention in children term born - 18 years old discharged with newly initiated nutritional care. The main question it aims to answer is: To investigate whether a tailored nutritional care follow-up program in children who are being discharged from the hospital with nutritional support improves nutritional intake and status as well as feeding behavior and quality of life (QoL) in children and their parents. Furthermore, the effect on parental stress, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress (PTSD) as well as QoL will be assessed with and without a tailored nutritional care follow-up program