SynthesisJournal of health, population, and nutrition2015
Effects of probiotics on child growth: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Journal of health, population, and nutrition, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 5 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
29 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Probiotics in Term Infants: Clinical Impact of Infant-Type Bifidobacteria: A Systematic Review and Meta-analyses.The Journal of nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Probiotic Supplementation for Promotion of Growth in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- The Long-Term Effects of Dietary Nutrient Intakes during the First 2 Years of Life in Healthy Infants from Developed Countries: An Umbrella Review.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2019Pooled it
- A Three-Arm, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Safety ofNutrients · 2023Trial
- The Effects of Yogurt Supplementation and Nutritional Education on Malnourished Infants: A Pilot RCT in Dhaka's Slums.Nutrients · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Effects of probiotic and synbiotic supplementation on ponderal and linear growth in severely malnourished young infants in a randomized clinical trial.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Tenth year reenrollment randomized trial investigating the effects of childhood probiotics and calcium supplementation on height and weight at adolescence.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Bacillus spore probiotics for alleviating functional constipation in children: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- Statistical modelling of determinants of child stunting using secondary data and Bayesian networks: a UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Action Against Stunting Hub protocol paper.BMJ paediatrics open · 2024Article
- Gut Microbiome-Targeted Nutrition Interventions and Growth among Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Current developments in nutrition · 2024Article
- The intersection of undernutrition, microbiome, and child development in the first years of life.Nature communications · 2023Review
- Faecal markers of intestinal inflammation in slum infants following yogurt intervention: A pilot randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh.Frontiers in microbiomes · 2023Article
- Gut microbiota in various childhood disorders: Implication and indications.World journal of gastroenterology · 2022Review
- Potential application of the probioticFrontiers in microbiology · 2022Review
- Dietary Component-Induced Inflammation and Its Amelioration by Prebiotics, Probiotics, and Synbiotics.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChild undernutrition has short and long term consequence for both individuals and society. Previous studies show probiotics may promote child growth and have an impact on under-nutrition.
methodsA systematic review of the literature was carried out on three electronic databases to assess evidence. The outcome measured was change in weight or height. A narrative analysis was conducted due to heterogeneity of included studies.
resultsTwelve studies were included in the review of which ten were randomised controlled trials. A total of 2757 children were included, with 1598 from developing countries. The studies varied in type and quantity of probiotics given, duration of interventions, characteristics of participants, setting and units of outcome measures. Overall, five studies found a positive effect of probiotics on child growth. All five were conducted in developing countries with four studies conducted in mostly under-nourished children and one in well-nourished children. No significant effect on growth was found in the seven studies that were conducted in developed countries.
conclusionThe limited evidence suggests that probiotics have the potential to improve child growth in developing countries and in under-nourished children. More research is needed to explore this further.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.