Sierra Murri, SN, Mara Thomas, SN, Sondra Heaston, MS, NP-C, CEN, CNE, Sheri Palmer, RN, DNP, CNE
Background: In May 2017 a group of students and instructors from Brigham Young University’s College of Nursing visited Guayaquil to assess malnutrition and anemia rates in school-aged children. The study found that more than 76% of all 581 children measured (ages 4-17) suffered from anemia (below 11g/dl 12 yrs as per WHO guidelines). The adverse effects of anemia for these children may include: weakness, fatigue, shortness of breath, and poor concentration. Anemia results from deficiencies of iron, B12, folic acid, and may also be the result of intestinal parasites. A nutritional survey conducted among these same school children showed that daily intake of iron, B12, and folic acid were below recommended levels.
Intervention: Shortly after obtaining measurements in May, Hogar de Cristo (HDC), a non-profit organization located in Guayaquil and a long-time partner of BYU, began a nutritional intervention distributing eight ounce bottles of fortified soy milk to pre-selected local schools to be served as a complimentary snack to the students. For our study, two schools were selected receiving the soymilk intervention, one school receiving albendazole (400 mg), and one not receiving the intervention to compare. Fortified soymilk is affordable, available in the region, and made on site by Hogar de Cristo, making the intervention sustainable. Schools A and B will receive the soymilk 3-5 times per week. School C received the Albendazole in August 2017. School D will be the control group. The purpose of this research will be to determine the effectiveness among the different interventions, thus identifying whether the fortified soymilk or the Albendazole is most effective in reducing anemia levels. By so doing, we aim to help HDC more effectively distribute the fortified soymilk and/or Albendazole to provide evidence that fortified soymilk and/or Albendazole can be effective in raising hemoglobin to healthy levels.
Results: Results of this sustainable intervention will be presented at UCUR. Our research group will be traveling back to Ecuador in November 2017 to do follow-up measurements of the children receiving the different interventions and the control group. The data will be entered into a statistical program and results will be available by mid-December 2017.
