Background:Malnutrition, encompassing undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, poses a significant threat to public health and it is a leading cause of kid’s growth restriction in formative years (2-12 years). Stunting and wasting, prevalent manifestations of malnutrition, have far-reaching consequences, impacting physical growth, cognitive development and overall well-being. Addressing this critical public health challenge necessitates effective nutritional interventions that not only alleviate immediate nutritional deficits but also resolve long-term growth, metabolic and development issues. The current study investigated the efficacy and safety of ChilRun full™, a commercially available oral nutritional supplement (ONS), in improving growth parameters among Indian children aged 2+ years.
Methods: The post-marketing, multicentric, in-clinic observational study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of ChilRun full™, a commercially available ONS, on the growth and development of children aged 2 years and above across India. A total of 3307 children were initially enrolled for this study and 2851 children successfully completed 90-day study period (day 0, 30, 60 and 90 days visit) Anthropometric measurements, including height, weight and body mass index (BMI), were recorded at four different time points baseline (day 0), day 30, 60 and 90. Children received two daily servings of ChilRun full™ for the entire 90-day study period. Growth parameters and Z-scores were analysed to assess the impact of ChilRun full™ on growth parameters. Focused analysis on the special population was conducted on children with baseline Z-scores ≤ -1, representing a subgroup at risk of malnutrition, to evaluate the effectiveness of ChilRun full™ in addressing growth deficiencies.
Results:Continuous supplementation with ChilRun full™ (twice a day for 90 days) led to significant improvements in anthropometric parameters height, weight and BMI across all age groups, with the 2-3 years group showing gain in height (2.20%), weight (9.68%) and BMI (4.82%) by end of day 90. Similarly, children aged 4-6 years and 7-9 years also showed substantial increase in height, weight and BMI. Further, in the subgroup analysis in children at the risk of malnutrition (Z-score ≤-1), weight increased by 20.56%, height by 10.30% and BMI by 14.36%, demonstrating effectiveness of ChilRun full™ in addressing growth deficits. Z-score analysis showed a positive shift towards standardized growth norms. Among children 2–3-year age, Z-scores for weight percentile improved from -0.39 to 0.01 in males and -1.84 to -0.94 in females, while, in children age 4–6-year, Z-scores increased from -2.70 to -1.85 in males and -2.24 to -1.50 in females and for 7–9-year age children from -2.72 to -1.84 in males and -2.98 to -2.26 in females. By the end of day 90, a significant number of children in both sexes from severely underweight (below the 3rd percentile) category moved to higher weight categories, demonstrating improved weight and a positive shift in nutritional status. The maximum shift was seen in children below the 3rd percentile, with 111 males and 73 females moving to the 3rd–15th percentile. Z-scores for height, weight and BMI showed positive shifts towards the standard population norms, indicating a normalization of growth patterns.
Conclusion:These findings highlight the efficacy of ChilRun full™ in promoting healthy growth and addressing malnutrition, as evidenced by improvements in weight, height, BMI, Z-scores and weight percentile distributions across all age groups and provides a strong nutritional foundation in growing kids to transform them into healthy, energetic and strong kids.

Keywords:ChilRun full™; Child Growth; Malnutrition; Nutritional Supplement; Anthropometry; Observational Study.