Building knowledge, optimising physical and mental health and setting up healthier life trajectories in South African women (Bukhali): a preconception randomised control trial part of the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI)

Study answer

What this study found

Introduction South Africa’s evolving burden of disease is challenging due to a persistent infectious disease, burgeoning obesity, most notably among women and rising rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). With two thirds of women presenting at their first antenatal visit either overweight or obese in urban South Africa (SA), the preconception period is an opportunity to optimise health and offset transgenerational risk of both obesity and NCDs. Methods and analysis Bukhali is the first individual randomised controlled trial in Africa to test the efficacy of a complex continuum of care…

A separate results summary is not available, so this answer uses the paper abstract.

Study & population

Participants: women aged 18-28 years from Soweto, urban poor area of Johannesburg, not pregnant at baseline; total planned n=6800.

Intervention

Multimicronutrient supplement (MMN) containing iron 27 mg per dose plus other micronutrients (Table 1).

Key limitation

No economic evaluation included; recruitment and trial conduct were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with adaptations (e.g., some remote delivery), which may affect interpretation and generalisability; potential cross-site delivery heterogeneity.

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Original abstract