Maternal & Child Nutrition · 11 authors, 5 centres
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This secondary analysis of a randomized egg intervention trial in Malawian children found that higher plasma choline concentrations were not associated with improved growth or neurodevelopment, with a few inconsistent associations suggesting poorer outcomes.
This study conducted a secondary analysis of data from the Mazira Project, a randomized controlled trial that provided one egg per day to Malawian children aged 6–9 months for 6 months. The goal was to investigate the association between plasma choline (and its metabolites betaine, DMG, and TMAO) and child growth and neurodevelopment in a setting with very low choline intake. Contrary to the hypothesis, plasma choline was not associated with most measures of child neurodevelopment. The few significant associations suggested faster processing speed, poorer fine motor skills, slower orienting of attention, and lower length-for-age z-score with higher plasma choline. Limitations include the use of plasma choline as an imperfect biomarker and the potential for other nutritional and environmental factors to influence outcomes in this low-income setting.
