Iron-fortified Lentils to Improve Iron (Fe) Status in Bangladesh

We designed a double-blind, community-based, cluster-randomized control trial which will test to establish novel evidence on the efficacy of iron-fortified lentil in improving body Fe status of non-pregnant adolescents in rural Mymensingh district of Bangladesh. Lentils will be fortified with iron in the lab setting at the Crop Development Center (CDC) of the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. There will be three lentils based dietary intervention arm in this efficacy trial. Arm 1 will be intervened with iron-fortified lentils, Arm 2 will be non-iron fortified lentils, and Arm 3 arm will be the usual intake of lentil (no additional lentil). Arm 2 will be served as a comparison group and arm 3 will be served as control group. A total of 420 adolescent girls (including 20% drop-outs) - aged 10 - 17y; non-smoking, not pregnant, not breastfeeding, and generally healthy will be included in each arm - a total of 1260 adolescent girls in all three arms. Participating adolescents will be served thick preparation of cooked lentils (37.5gm raw lentil) 5 days a week for 85 feeding days (around 4+months). Socio-demographic characteristics, household food security status, and adolescent food habits will be collected at baseline and endline data point. Furthermore, venous blood will be collected to measure adolescents' Fe status at baseline, midline, and endline for 85 feeding days (5 days a week)- approx. 4+ months. In addition, Ravens Progressive Matrices will be used for non-verbal measurement of the cognitive ability of advanced observation and thinking skills specific to capacity for analyzing and solving problems, abstract reasoning, and the ability to learn of the adolescents. Both descriptive and inferential statistics will be used for this study. Serum ferritin level and cognitive performance is the primary outcome. The trial expects that the supplemental Fe from the iron-fortified lentils will improve body Fe status and cognitive performance after controlling for bas