EFFICACY OF MILK VERSUS YOGURT OFFERED AS PART OF A MIXED DIET IN ACUTE NONCHOLERA DIARRHEA AMONG MALNOURISHED CHILDREN

We compared the clinical outcome of acute diarrhea in 96 malnourished boys (aged 4 to 47 months) receiving full-strength milk compared with yogurt offered as part of a mixed diet. All had weight for height less than or equal to 80% of the National Centre for Health Statistics med ian. They were randomly assigned to receive milk formula (MF; 67 cal/1 00 mi) or yogurt formula (YF; prepared from the same milk formula) at the rate of 120 ml/kg body weight in seven divided feedings. Stool-red ucing substances (> 1%) were detected more frequently in the MF group, and the differences were significant for day 3 of the study (p = 0.04 ). However, the geometric mean (95% confidence interval) of the total stool weights (gm/kg) during 0 to 72 hours (IMF 128.8 [103, 161.4]; YF 110.9 [87, 142.2]) was comparable (p = 0.37) as was the median (range ) duration of diarrhea (hours) (MF 45 [4, 183]; YF 52 [7, 173] p = 0.9 4). The treatment failure rates in the MF (8.2%) and YF (6.3%) groups were also similar (p = 0.67). The children consuming milk had higher m edian percent weight gain at the end of 72 hours of the study (p = 0.0 4) and at recovery (p = 0.02). Routine substitution of yogurt as small frequent feedings as an addition for semisolid food to malnourished c hildren with acute diarrhea does not achieve any significant clinical benefit versus milk.