Is anyone aware of any studies that document the benefits of moringa for the nutritional needs of children; especially for malnourished?
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Hi Gordon!
Former ECHO Board member Dr. Kay Witt is knowledgeable about moringa’s scientifically proven benefits for meeting children’s nutritional needs. She spoke at an ECHO conference back in 2012 on this subject! She starts talking about child nutrition and moringa around minute 15 of this presentation: Understanding the Nutritional Health of Your Community: In What Situations can Moringa oleifera Help to Improve Nutrition? | ECHOcommunity.org
She also wrote the first ever ECHO Research Note which has a plethora of scientific literature reviewed and was written with a focus on child nutrition (see excerpt below): The Nutrient Content of Moringa oleifera Leaves | ECHOcommunity.org
Contribution to Nutrient Needs : The table values were used to estimate the percent of the nutrient needs of a 1–3 year-old child that would be provided by a typical serving—1 tablespoon of dried leaf powder or 1 cup of raw fresh leaves.
You might find some other useful suggestions in this ECHOcommunity collection
Submissions for consideration for this list and others by network members is always appreciated. Do our network nutritionists and researchers have suggestions?
Hi Gordon,
I work with Dr. Motis in the Research Dept. in the Fort Myers location. I received your inquiry and wanted to give you a couple of external articles that may interest you in this subject area.
TOPIC: Moringa Benefits in Malnourished Children
1st Article Citation:
Barichella, M., Pezzoli, G., Faierman, S. A., Raspini, B., Rimoldi, M., Cassani, E., … & Cereda, E. (2019). Nutritional characterisation of Zambian Moringa oleifera: acceptability and safety of short-term daily supplementation in a group of malnourished girls. International journal of food sciences and nutrition , 70 (1), 107-115.
Scope of Article: Moringa powder (produced from dried Moringa leaves) contains large amounts of protein, minerals and vitamins, such as iron, calcium and carotenoids.
2nd Article Citation:
Zongo, U., Zoungrana, S. L., Savadogo, A., & Traoré, A. S. (2013). Nutritional and clinical rehabilitation of severely malnourished children with Moringa oleifera Lam. leaf powder in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).
Scope of Article: This article provides a clinical investigation into the benefits of MO in severely malnourished very young children 6 yrs. – 59 months of age. The patients were given MO powder and their weight increase was measured. The study found children given 10 g daily, displayed a 50% higher weight than the control group.
3rd Article Citation:
Dhakar, R. C., Maurya, S. D., Pooniya, B. K., Bairwa, N., & Gupta, M. (2011). Moringa: The herbal gold to combat malnutrition. Moringa: The Herbal Gold To Combat Malnutrition .
Scope of Article: This article provides specific composition of MO nutrients, minerals, and vitamins.
TOPIC: Alternative Means of Consuming Moringa
Article Citation:
Vanajakshi, V., Vijayendra, S. V. N., Varadaraj, M. C., Venkateswaran, G., & Agrawal, R. (2015). Optimization of a probiotic beverage based on Moringa leaves and beetroot. LWT-Food Science and Technology , 63 (2), 1268-1273.
Scope of Article: The article discusses how people are choosing to consume MO as a prebiotic to gain the nutritional benefits and improved immune health benefits as well.
Very few are aware of the side effects of eating too much moringa. Everything in moderation. Better to eat a variety of vegetables and find the ones that kids like and they will eat more of them. My wife had a good system. She would take the kids out to the store and the kids would select a new vegetable and she would cook it 3 different ways so they did not experience a reject it experience from one way of cooking. You should do the same with Moringa and also include other highly nutritious vegetables. Don’t depend on Moringa to be a panacea for children’s nutrition because not all children are going to like the taste and so moderation in the recipe is going to help avert the bad taste most people experience and keep finding the vegetables the kids like to eat and get them on their plate frequently. Also be sure to include a balance of different types of protein, carbohydrates, and even a small amount of oils if they are malnurished.