Centre for Research on Nutrition Support Systems (CRNSS)

Research Projects

  • Use of Fermented Foods to Combat Stunting and Failure to Thrive
  • Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Probiotic Preparation in Children With Irritable Bowel Syndrome
  • The Effect of Ketoanalogues of L-Essential Amino Acids on Nutritional and Renal Status of Patients with Chronic Renal Failure Undergoing Regular Dialysis

Use of Fermented Foods to Combat Stunting and Failure to Thrive

With the adoption of vigorous "child survival strategies", including oral rehydration, infant and child mortality in India has significantly declined even among the poorest undernourished segments of the population. Most of the surviving children, however, continue to remain stunted and undernourished and fail to thrive. As a result of this expanding pool of substandard survivors, 52% of India's under-five population is stunted.

Probiotics are foods that contain live bacteria, which are beneficial to health. The bacterial genera most often used asprobiotics are lactobacilli and bifidobacteria.

They can be administered in the form of fermented foods such as curd or yogurt. A number of health-related effects of probiotics such as alleviation of lactose intolerance, decrease in the duration of morbidity in rotaviral diarrhoea and in disorders with symptoms involving the gastrointestinal tract such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) have been documented. Yogurt contains a significantly higher concentration of folic acid, niacin and riboflavin than milk. Colonic fermentation has been shown to be altered following probiotic intake, either as fermented milk or as freeze-dried cultures.The use of lactic acid producing bacteria in foods, especially members of the genus lactobacillus, has a long history and most strains are considered commensal microorganisms with little or no pathogenic potential. The ubiquitous presence of lactobacilli in intestinal epithelium and human gastrointestinal tract and their traditional use in fermented foods and dairy products attest to their safety and they have been designated as "Generally Recognized As Safe" (GRAS). The administration of Lactobacillus acidophilus in prevention and as an adjuvant in the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders in children and adults has been advocated in many parts of the world. Activated cultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus can be used as probiotic food supplements.

CRNSS carried out a study to investigate the effect of probiotic supplementation on diarrhoeal morbidity (with respect to frequency, severity and duration of diarrhoeal episodes) and the effect of physical growth in two-to-five years old children from a very poor socio-economic background residing in an urban slum in New Delhi. There was significant reduction in both severity and duration of diarrhoea in those who received the probiotic supplement.