The effects of protein supplementation on the growth and skeletal maturation of New Guinean school children

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The response to protein supplementation was studied in 86 Bundi children, aged 7.7-13.0 years, in the New Guinea highlands. Group 1 (22 males, 8 females) served as a control and received only their normal school diet, averaging 5440 kJ and 11 g protein/day. Group 2 children (22 males, 8 females) were supplemented with 10 g of protein/day for 5 days a week and group 3 (18 males, 8 females received 20 g protein/day. The supplement was skim milk powder and the experiment lasted for 8 mo. Increments of growth and of skeletal maturation of individuals were analyzed, by group, for the 8 mo. period. Height, weight, skin-fold thickness (triceps and subscapular), compact bone breadths of the 2nd metacarpal, and Tanner-Whitehouse bone maturity scores were studied. Supplemented children showed increased growth in height, weight and periosteal bone breadth, and increased increments of skeletal maturation. While unsupplemented children showed increases in skinfold thicknesses, the increments of the supplemented groups did not differ significantly from zero. There were no differences in either the endosteal breadth or the thickness of the compact bone layer of the 2nd metacarpal. Children receiving 20 g of protein displayed consistently greater increments than those receiving 10 g but the differences were significant only in the case of body weight. The relative response of height to protein supplementation was greater than the response of skeletal maturation.