Field Stories
WATCH: The power of adolescent nutrition programming
May 15, 2024
This is a protocol of a study that aims to establish novel evidence of the efficacy of the consumption of iron-fortified lentils in improving the body iron status and thus cognitive performance in non-pregnant adolescent girls between the ages of 10–17 years in rural Bangladesh. A double-blind, community-based, cluster-randomized controlled trial was used to compare between three groups that received iron-fortified lentils; unfortified lentils; and no lentils (usual intake). The results of this study will be used to garner support for and to substantiate large-scale production and market expansion of Fe-fortified lentils, and will contribute to knowledge about how to enhance Fe status in adolescents worldwide in resource-poor settings, using staple food crops.