Is a blended diet beneficial and safe for gastrostomy fed children?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
To examine the benefits and risks of administering blended diet to children and young people who are gastrostomy fed in the community
IRAS ID
200203
Contact name
Sian Thomas
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
There are a growing number of children and young people with complex health needs who are unable to feed either adequately or safely by mouth. Alternative routes of feeding have been established to support their nutritional needs including gastrostomy feeding. A wide variety of commercial feeds exist to meet nutritional and infection safety requirements; however some families prefer to use as blender to give “home foods” instead with variable nutritional content. The use such a blended diet as an alternative to the prescribed formula feed has occurred over the last 2 to 3 years in the United Kingdom and their effects on growth and nutrition, gut microbiota and infection rates have not been well studied to date.
This is an evolving area of practice within the UK with some reported benefits from changing to this method of feeding including reduced gastro-oesophageal reflux, improved bowel function and an improvement in mood, hair and skin condition. A recent rapid review of the evidence indicates that there is a need for further studies to understand the benefits and outcomes of blended diet and the experiences of families.
This pilot study will examine the benefits and risks from social, medical and microbiological perspectives for children already receiving a blended diet via a gastrostomy (group A) and compare them with children being given a standard commercial feed via gastrostomy (group B).The study also aims to examine whether there is a difference in the microbiome analysis of the gut of children who receive a blended diet (group A) or a commercial feed (group B) in comparison to the siblings (group C) in group A and B, who are in receipt of an oral diet.
REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SW/0049
Date of REC Opinion
3 Apr 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion