Improving body composition and micronutrient status of children
News from the KaziAfya study.
Physical activity (PA) promotion combined with multi-micronutrient supplementation (MMNS) among school-age children may reduce fat mass accrual and increase muscle mass through different mechanisms and so benefit child health. This study determined the efficacy of combined interventions on body composition among South African schoolchildren and determined if micronutrients mediate these effects.
A total of 1304 children 6-12 years of age recruited from public schools in Gqeberha, South Africa. Children were randomized by classes to either: (a) a physical activity group (PA); (b) a MMNS group; (c) a physical activity + multi-micronutrient supplementation group (PA + MMNS); and (d) a placebo control group. Trajectories of overall and truncal fat free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM) estimates in modeled at 9 and 21 months using latent growth curve models (LGCM). Changes in micronutrient concentrations at 9 months from baseline.
An increased FFM trajectory was found among children in the MMNS arm at 9 months. The PA and MMNS arms both had positive indirect effects on this trajectory at 9 months and similarly at 21 months when mediated by zinc concentration changes. A reduced FM trajectory was found among children in the PA promotion arm at 9 months when using this collection point as the referent intercept. This arm was inversely associated with the FM trajectory at 9 months when mediated by zinc changes. PA and MMNS promotion in school-based interventions directly contributed to reductions in FM and increased FFM among South African children and indirectly through changes in micronutrient status.
For further information:
Kurt Z Long, Johanna Beckmann, Christin Lang, Harald Seelig, Siphesihle Nqweniso, Nicole Probst-Hensch, Uwe Pühse, Peter Steinmann, Rosa du Randt, Cheryl Walter, Jürg Utzinger, Markus Gerber, Randomized trial to improve children’s body composition and micronutrient status among South African Children., American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2024), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2024.01.017