Protective Effect of Multimicronutrient Supplementation against Anemia among Children, Women, and Adolescent Girls in Lower-Income Areas of Chiclayo, Peru

Background The Integrated Food Security Program (Programa Integrado de Seguridad Alimentaria [PISA]) implemented a campaign to promote weekly multimicronutrient supplementation among women and adolescent girls of childbearing age and children under 5 years of age. Objectives To assess the impact of the campaign on the growth of children and on anemia among children and among women and adolescent girls of childbearing age. Methods Weekly multimicronutrient supplementation was provided for 8 weeks. Weights, heights, and hemoglobin concentrations were assessed at the beginning and end of the campaign. Results and conclusions Although supplementation did not significantly increase the hemoglobin concentrations of children (p = .80) or women and adolescent girls (p = .65) in the intervention group, the hemoglobin concentrations of the comparison groups were significantly lower after 8 weeks (p = .001 for children and p = .03 for women and adolescent girls). Furthermore, the percentage of anemic children in the comparison group increased significantly (p < .001), and the final value was significantly higher than that for the intervention group (p = .004). There were no significant effects of weekly multimicronutrient supplementation on the growth of children, but the study was too short to reliably determine any effects on growth.