Effect of African leafy vegetables on the micronutrient status of mildly deficient farm-school XXXX in South Africa: a randomized controlled study.

@entity1 @entity417 @entity904 @entity3322 @entity11314
OBJECTIVE: A randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the effect of African leafy vegetable ( @entity3322 ) consumption on Fe, Zn and @entity904 status in @entity1 . DESIGN: @entity1 were randomly allocated to receive either a 300 g cooked @entity3322 dish and school meal starch (n 86) or the normal school meal (n 81) five times per week for three months. @entity3322 in the dish consisted mainly of Amaranthus cruentus (at least 80 %) and the remainder of Cleome gynandra, Cucurbita maxima or @entity11314 . Nutrient content and consumer acceptance of the @entity3322 dish were also determined. SETTING: North West Province, South Africa. SUBJECTS: Grade R to grade 4 @entity1 (6-12 years old) of two farm schools. RESULTS: The @entity3322 dish contributed 11  6-15  8 mg Fe and 1  4-3  7 mg Zn. At baseline, prevalence of deficiencies in the intervention group was 16  0 %, 16  3 %, 7  0 % and 75  6 %, respectively, for @entity417 (Hb<11  5 g/dl), Fe (serum ferritin<15   g/l), @entity904 (serum @entity904 <20  g/dl) and Zn (serum Zn<65  g/dl); and in the control group 10  5 %, 18  5 %, 2  5 % and 75  3 %, respectively. No significant estimated intervention effect was found. CONCLUSIONS: This randomized controlled trial showed that @entity3322 were unable to improve serum @entity904 , serum ferritin or Hb if there are only mild deficiencies present. Furthermore, despite the low Zn status in the study population, @entity3322 consumption did not improve serum Zn concentrations either.
