Trial reportPloS one2020
Efficacy of processed amaranth-containing bread compared to maize bread on hemoglobin, anemia and iron deficiency anemia prevalence among two-to-five year-old anemic children in Southern Ethiopia: A cluster randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 3 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
16 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of sourdough- or regular-bread fermentation, and phytate reduction on iron bioavailability, absorption, and iron status in humans: a systematic review of intervention studies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Effect of Amaranth-Containing Dietary Intervention in Improving Hemoglobin Concentration: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Public health reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Health Benefits of Bread Fortification: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials according to the PRISMA Statement.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Trial
- Adherence, safety, bioavailability, and acceptability of amaranth grain flatbread during pregnancy: evidence from a cluster randomized trial in Sidama region, Ethiopia.BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- Improving school-age nutrition and school performance through amaranth plus flaxseed food product distribution in Sidama, Ethiopia: a study protocol.Global health action · 2025Article
- Recent Advances in the Therapeutic Potential of Bioactive Molecules from Plants of Andean Origin.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Amaranth and buckwheat grains: Nutritional profile, development of functional foods, their pre-clinical cum clinical aspects and enrichment in feed.Current research in food science · 2024Review
- Anaemia, anthropometric undernutrition and associated factors among mothers with children younger than 2 years of age in the rural Dale district, southern Ethiopia: A community-based study.Maternal & child nutrition · 2022Article
- The Dual Nature of Amaranth-Functional Food and Potential Medicine.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Food fortification strategies to deliver nutrients for the management of iron deficiency anaemia.Current research in food science · 2022Review
- Serum Trace Element Levels and Their Correlation with Picky Eating Behavior, Development, and Physical Activity in Early Childhood.Nutrients · 2021Article
- Article
- Article
- Co-morbid anaemia and stunting among children 2-5 years old in southern Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study.BMJ paediatrics open · 2021Article
- A Review of Recent Studies on the Antioxidant Activities of a Third-Millennium Food:Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFew studies have evaluated iron-rich plant-based foods, such as amaranth grain, to reduce anemia and iron deficiency anemia. Amaranth is rich in nutrients, but with high level of phytate. The objective of this trial was to evaluate the efficacy of home processed amaranth grain containing bread in the treatment of anemia, hemoglobin concentration and iron deficiency anemia among two-to-five year-old children in Southern Ethiopia.
methodChildren with anemia (hemoglobin concentration <110.0g/L) (N = 100) were identified by random sampling and enrolled in a 1:1 cluster randomized controlled trial for six months in 2017. The amaranth group (N = 50), received 150g bread containing 70% amaranth and 30% chickpea, the amaranth grain was processed at home (soaking, germinating, and fermenting) to decrease the phytate level. The maize group (N = 50), received 150g bread, containing processed maize (roasted and fermented) to give a similar color and structure with amaranth bread. Hemoglobin, ferritin, and CRP were measured at baseline and at the end of intervention. Hemoglobin and ferritin values were adjusted for altitude and infection, respectively. Generalized estimating equation and generalized linear model were used to analyze the data.
resultIn the last follow-up measure anemia prevalence was significantly lower in the amaranth group (32%) as compared with the maize group (56%) [adjusted risk ratios, aRR: 0.39 (95%CI: 0.16-0.77)]. Hemoglobin concentration estimate of beta coefficient was significantly higher in the amaranth group compared with the maize group [aβ 8.9g/L (95%CI: 3.5-14.3)], p-value <0.01. The risk of iron deficiency anemia is significantly lower in the amaranth group [aRR: 0.44 (95%CI: 0.23-0.83)] in the intention to treat analysis but not significant in the complete case analysis. There was no significant difference between groups in iron deficiency [aRR: 0.81 (95%CI: 0.55-1.19)].
conclusionProcessed amaranth bread had favorable effects on hemoglobin concentration and has the potential to minimize anemia prevalence. CLINICAL
trial registrationTrial registry number: PACTR201705002283263 https://pactr.samrc.ac.za/TrialDisplay.aspx?TrialID=2283.
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.