Maternal and Child Nutrition · Published 2026-01-01 · DOI 10.1111/mcn.70156
ABSTRACT Edible crickets are commonly farmed insects containing high‐quality protein and micronutrients. They can potentially replace common animal source protein in complementary food (CF). We evaluated the effect of edible cricket‐enriched CF on linear growth in a 2 × 2 factorial randomized control trial based on Cricket treatment (+/−CR) and Nutrition Education treatment (+/−ED). We enrolled 284 eligible mother–infant dyads with infants from 6 months having a middle upper arm circumference (MUAC) > 11.5 cm at Rwambwa Sub‐County Hospital, Siaya County, Kenya. Participants were randomized to treatment arms with intervention foods issued monthly as a take‐home food ration adjusted for age, were offered +ED sessions monthly as personalized audio–visual sessions where education messages and reminders were sent to the mother's mobile phones. Monthly infant anthropometry, feeding practices and child health data were collected. A significant contrast (Z = −0.28 (95% CI: 0.03, 0.53) [p = 0.03]) in length‐for‐age Z‐score (LAZ) between −CR and +CR was observed. By MUAC, girls were significantly 1.98 (1.15, 3.41) (p = 0.01) times likely to be undernourished. Increased illness episodes significantly increased the child's risk to undernutrition, with those experiencing three episodes being 4.30 (95% CI: 1.21, 15.37) times likely to suffer undernutrition, while those with above five episodes were almost six times as likely to be malnourished. Consuming either of the intervention foods resulted in a similar growth rate irrespective of nutrition education treatment offered. Nutrition education improved weight‐for‐length, irrespective of CF consumed. The similarity in growth rate across study arms signifies the potential of edible cricket protein in growth of infants' comparative to the super cereal. Trial registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov NCT06002620
Abstract from DOAJ. Public domain (CC0 1.0).
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