High‐fibre enteral feeding results in improved anthropometrics and favourable gastrointestinal tolerance in malnourished children with growth failure

AIM: The practical value of using fibre‐enriched enteral feeding regimens to rehabilitate malnourished children remains inconclusive. This study determined the usage patterns, gastrointestinal tolerance, anthropometrics and safety of high‐fibre enteral feeding in malnourished children with growth failure. METHODS: This Turkish observational study between February 2013 and June 2015 comprised 345 paediatric patients from 17 centres with malnutrition‐related growth failure, with a weight and height of <2 SD percentiles for their age. Changes in anthropometrics, gastrointestinal symptoms, defecation habits and safety data relating to adverse events were analysed during the six‐month follow‐up period. RESULTS: Most subjects (99.7%) were supplemented with enteral feeding. The absolute difference and 95% confidence interval values for the Z scores of height for age, weight for age, weight for height and body mass index for height increased significantly in four months to six months to 0.21 (0.09–0.32), 0.61 (0.51–0.70), 0.81 (0.56–1.06) and 0.70 (0.53–0.86), respectively (p < 0.001 for each). The percentage of patients with normal defecation frequency significantly increased from 70.3% to 92.8% at the four months to six months visit (p = 0.004). Adverse events occurred in 15 (4.3%) of patients. CONCLUSION: Using a six‐month high‐fibre enteral feeding was associated with favourable outcomes in anthropometrics, appetite, gastrointestinal tolerance and safety in malnourished children.