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Goat's milk appears similar to cow's milk in enhancing weight gain in the treatment of malnourished children. Thirty malnourished children between one and five years old in Madagascar, Africa, were randomly assigned to treatment with either cow's milk or goat's milk. Both milks were supplemented with vegetable oil, sugar, vitamins and minerals. Goat's milk is cheaper than cow's milk in Madagascar. Children treated with goat's milk gained an average of 8.5 grams per kilogram of body weight per day compared with the 7.8 grams per kilogram per day gained by those treated with cow's milk. The average intake of 157 milliliters of milk per kilogram per day was the same for both groups., Objective. This paper compares the effects of goat's milk and cow's milk on weight gain and fat absorption, in children with overt malnutrition. Methods. Thirty hospitalized malnourished children aged from 1 to 5 years were included in a randomized double-blind trial. The children were fed either goat or cow's milk with a randomized will defined composition, added with vegetable oil, sugar, vitamins and minerals o achieve 1 000 kcal/liter. Children were offered 100 kcal/kg on the first day, with a regular daily increase in energy intake thereafter that reached 200 kcal/kg per day on the tenth day. Results. Both groups of children had the same degree of malnutrition on inclusion. The mean weight-for-height Z score was -1.7 in both groups. One death with candidiasis occurred in the goat's milk group. Weight gain was similar in both groups: 8.5 g/kg/day (SE = 1.37) with goat's milk and 7.8 (SE = 1.9) with cow's milk. There was no significant difference in HEM intake: 157 ml/kg/day (SE = 4), vs 162 (SE = 4) for goat and cow's milk, respectively. Fat absorption coefficients on the 15th day of treatment were also similar in both groups. Conclusion. These results suggest that goat's milk has a nutritional value similar to that of cow's milk and could be used as an alternative to cow's milk for rehabilitating undernourished children. Pediatrics 1994;94:65-69; malnutrition, goat's milk, cow's milk, randomized double-blind trial.

Introduction The WHO document on complementary feeding[1] suggests that zinc and iron might be "problem nutrients." The approach used relates the nutrient content of each available food to the energy [...]