The effect of vitamin B12 supplementation in Nepalese infants on growth and development: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12).

Vitamin B12 is crucial for normal cell division and differentiation, and it is necessary for the development and myelination of the central nervous system.

Registered on 21 October 2014.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 600 children were involved.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were infants, both men and women.

The researchers are conducting an individually randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 600 marginally stunted children 6-11 months old (length for age less than -1 z-score).

The main outcomes are changes in growth (z-scores) and in neurodevelopment measured by the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition, from baseline until the end of the study.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

The children were allocated by chance, so the Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Neither the children nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12), so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some children received a placebo instead of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12), giving a reference point.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Age Factors, Biomarkers, Body Height, Checklist, Child Development, Clinical Protocols and Dietary Supplements.

The authors tagged it with the keywords Cobalamin, Cognitive Development, Growth, Infants, Nepal and Nutrition.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) in 600 children.

With several hundred people or more, it is a fairly large study for this kind of research.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 1 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2017 (Trials), a journal based in England.

More context: the Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) compound page, all human trials.