CHANGES IN BODY-COMPOSITION OF MALNOURISHED CHILDREN AFTER DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION AS MEASURED BY BIOELECTRICAL-IMPEDANCE

Body composition was measured with bioelectrical impedance in 35 malno urished children aged 24-59 mo to investigate the effect of a 3-wk fee ding supplementation. Twenty children received a high-protein diet wit h 15% of total energy as protein, whereas 15 children received an isoe nergetic standard-protein diet with 7.5% of energy as protein. Bioelec trical impedance analysis and anthropometry were done before and after 21 d of dietary supplementation. The children fed the high-protein di et gained significantly more body weight than those receiving the stan dard-protein diet (1.33+/-0.54 vs 0.88+/-0.47 kg, P<0.02). The total b ody water and fat-free mass determined by bioelectrical impedance anal ysis showed that the group fed the high-protein diet increased signifi cantly more (0.92 vs 0.58 kg) than those on the standard-protein diet (P<0.02). Results of this study suggest that feeding a high-protein di et accelerates catch-up growth and restores the reference body composi tion in children recovering from malnutrition.