Effect of the provision of small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements on gross motor developmental milestones in Indonesian infants

Abstract

The first of 1000 days of life have been considered critical time for child growth and development. The purpose of this study was to compare the achievement of gross motor development and early social and language milestones among infants who received SQ-LNS (small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements), biscuits, or no intervention. A 6-month, non-randomized, controlled trial was performed among 220 infants who received 20 g of LNS (n = 70) or a 30 g of biscuit (n = 79) or who were controls with no intervention (n = 53). The percentage of children able to perform hand and knees crawling was significantly higher in the LNS group (100%) than in the control group (94.8%) after 3 months of the intervention. After 6 months of the intervention, the percentage of children able to walk alone was significantly higher in the LNS group (55.7%) than in the control group (37.7%) and the biscuit group (36.7%). Compared with children in the control group, the odds ratio (95% Cl) of walking alone in the LNS group was 2.03 greater and significantly different (OR 2.03; 95% Cl 1.03; 4.30, p = 0.040). There was no significance difference in the percentage of children able to say a single comprehensible word and to wave goodbye among the study groups. There was no significant difference in the percentage of children able to drink from a cup among three study groups (control group 69.8%, LNS group 82.9%, biscuit group 73.4%, p>0.05). The percentage of children able to eat alone in the control group (81.1%) was lower and significantly different compared to the LNS group (98.6%) and the biscuit group (98.7%). Small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements for six months had positive effects on the achievement of selected gross motor development skills during childhood in rural Indonesia.