Trial reportPublic health nutrition2015
A cluster-randomized trial determining the efficacy of caterpillar cereal as a locally available and sustainable complementary food to prevent stunting and anaemia.
Trial report in Public health nutrition, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 79 citations in OpenAlex.
- Terrestrial Animal Source Foods and Health Outcomes for Those with Special Nutrient Needs in the Life Course.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Edible Insect Consumption for Human and Planetary Health: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A Systematic Review Investigating the Relation Between Animal-Source Food Consumption and Stunting in Children Aged 6-60 Months in Low and Middle-Income Countries.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2019Pooled it
- Effects of animal protein supplementation of mothers, preterm infants, and term infants on growth outcomes in childhood: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2019Pooled it
- Effectiveness of provision of animal-source foods for supporting optimal growth and development in children 6 to 59 months of age.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Effect of Edible Cricket Enriched Complementary Porridge and Nutrition Education on Linear Growth of Children 6-14 Months in Siaya County, Kenya: A Randomized 2 × 2 Factorial Trial.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Trial
- Child-Owned Poultry Intervention Effects on Hemoglobin, Anemia, Concurrent Anemia and Stunting, and Morbidity Status of Young Children in Southern Ethiopia: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Community Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Trial
- Effect of locally produced complementary foods on fat-free mass, linear growth, and iron status among Kenyan infants: A randomized controlled trial.Maternal & child nutrition · 2019Trial
- Effects of lipid-based nutrient supplements and infant and young child feeding counseling with or without improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) on anemia and micronutrient status: results from 2 cluster-randomized trials in Kenya and Bangladesh.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2019Trial
- Mitigated Impact of Provision of Local Foods Combined with Nutrition Education and Counseling on Young Child Nutritional Status in Cambodia.Nutrients · 2018Trial
- Nutritional and Sensory Evaluation of Complementary Foods Developed From Staple Grains and Dried Dagaa Fish (Food science & nutrition · 2026Article
- Pearl millet instant beverage powder enriched with baobab pulp to improve iron and anaemia status of adolescent girls in rural Ghana: a study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.The British journal of nutrition · 2024Article
- A Comprehensive Review of the Importance of Selected Trace Elements Present in Edible Insects.Biological trace element research · 2023Review
- Nudging Consumer Behavior with Social Marketing in Portugal: Can Perception Have an Influence over Trying Insect-Based Food?Insects · 2023Article
- Maternal and child nutrition in the Lives Saved Tool: Results of a recent update.Journal of global health · 2022Review
- Potential Use of Edible Insects in Complementary Foods for Children: A Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Design Factors for Food Supplementation and Nutrition Education Interventions That Limit Conclusions about Effectiveness for Wasting Prevention: A Scoping Review of Peer-Reviewed Literature.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2022Article
- Sorghum-Insect Composites for Healthier Cookies: Nutritional, Functional, and Technological Evaluation.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Palm Weevil Larvae (Journal of nutrition and metabolism · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveWe conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of a cereal made from caterpillars, a micronutrient-rich, locally available alternative animal-source food, on reducing stunting and anaemia in infants in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
designSix-month-old infants were cluster randomized to receive either caterpillar cereal daily until 18 months of age or the usual diet. At 18 months of age, anthropometric measurements and biological samples were collected.
settingThe rural Equateur Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. SUBJECTS: One hundred and seventy-five infants followed from 6 to 18 months of age.
resultsStunting was common at 6 months (35%) and the prevalence increased until 18 months (69%). There was no difference in stunting prevalence at 18 months between the intervention and control groups (67% v. 71%, P = 0.69). Infants in the cereal group had higher Hb concentration than infants in the control group (10.7 v. 10.1 g/dl, P = 0.03) and fewer were anaemic (26 v. 50%, P = 0.006), although there was no difference in estimates of body Fe stores (6.7 v. 7.2 mg/kg body weight, P = 0.44).
conclusionsSupplementation of complementary foods with caterpillar cereal did not reduce the prevalence of stunting at 18 months of age. However, infants who consumed caterpillar cereal had higher Hb concentration and fewer were anaemic, suggesting that caterpillar cereal might have some beneficial effect. The high prevalence of stunting at 6 months and the lack of response to this micronutrient-rich supplement suggest that factors other than dietary deficiencies also contribute to stunting.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.