{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T03:24:34Z","timestamp":1790738674653,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,25]],"date-time":"2019-02-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1551052800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000200","name":"United States Agency for International Development","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["EDH-A-00-07-00005-00"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EDH-A-00-07-00005-00"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000200","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Linear growth faltering, caused by insufficient diet, recurrent infections and environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), continues to plague young children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Diets in LMICs are primarily plant based, and thus have poor-quality protein and low levels of essential micronutrients. The aim of this study was to assess the association of the type and protein quality of food consumed with stunting, EED and acute malnutrition in children aged 6\u201336 months in Limera and Masenjere, two rural Southern Malawian communities. This is a secondary analysis of two randomized controlled trials that tested the effects of common bean and cowpea flour on stunting in children aged 6\u201336 months. We used data from two interactive 24-h dietary recalls conducted 12 weeks after enrolment into each trial. Food intakes were compared between the regions using Chi-square and Student\u2019s t-test. There were 355 children that participated in the dietary recalls. The diets of children were of poor quality, but the children from Limera consumed more fish (54% vs. 35%, p = 0.009) and more bioavailable protein (26.0 \u00b1 10.3 g\/day vs. 23.1 \u00b1 8.1 g\/day, p = 0.018, respectively) than children in Masenjere. Food type and protein quality were not associated with any of the outcomes except an association between animal protein consumption and improvement in height-for-age z scores in children aged 12\u201336 months (p = 0.047). These findings support the notion that animal-source food (ASF) consumption in this vulnerable population promotes linear growth.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu11020480","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,25]],"date-time":"2019-02-25T10:56:53Z","timestamp":1551092213000},"page":"480","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":58,"title":["Consumption of Animal-Source Protein is Associated with Improved Height-for-Age z Scores in Rural Malawian Children Aged 12\u201336 Months"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1650-9050","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yankho","family":"Kaimila","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health and Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Private Bag 360, Blantyre 3, Malawi"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oscar","family":"Divala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health and Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Private Bag 360, Blantyre 3, Malawi"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sophia E.","family":"Agapova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Campus Box 8116, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kevin B.","family":"Stephenson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Campus Box 8116, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chrissie","family":"Thakwalakwa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health and Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Private Bag 360, Blantyre 3, Malawi"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3364-6858","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Indi","family":"Trehan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Campus Box 8116, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA"},{"name":"Lao Friends Hospital for Children, P.O. Box 873, Luang Prabang 06000, Lao PDR"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mark J.","family":"Manary","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health and Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Private Bag 360, Blantyre 3, Malawi"},{"name":"Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Campus Box 8116, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kenneth M.","family":"Maleta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health and Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Private Bag 360, Blantyre 3, Malawi"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"UNICEF, World Health Organisation, and World Bank (2018). 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