There is currently little research on nutritional interventions for lean, healthy prepubescent children with short stature living in developed countries. The team of researchers at Nutritional Growth Solutions set out to change that with the goal of having a better understanding of how to establish improved growth through nutritional interventions in later stages of childhood and/or adolescence.

“While nutritional needs are similar for young boys and girls ages 3-9, during puberty they have different nutritional needs,” explains Michal Yackobovitch-Gavan, PhD, dietitian and researcher at Schneider Children’s Medical Center, and co-founder of Nutritional Growth Solutions.

There are more than 20 million children in the U.S. between ages 10-14, and while this group of rapidly growing adolescents has unique nutritional needs, there are very few products addressing these needs, let alone products that have been clinically tested. However, a recent clinical study found a positive effect of a nutritional supplement on growth and body composition in short and lean preadolescent boys aged 10 to 14.5 years.

The 12-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study included 160 lean and short boys, and was carried out by the Institute for Endocrinology of the Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel as well as at two other co-research centers in Israel—the gold standard for clinical studies in this field.

The research found that pre-teen boys who used the formula gained more weight, BMI, fat-free mass, and muscle mass versus the placebo group.

“Intervention with a multi-nutrient, protein-rich formula, was effective at increasing weight and body mass index (BMI), mostly from fat-free mass and muscle mass, in short and lean prepubertal male adolescents,” Yackobovich-Gavan explained. “It also prevented the expected slowdown in height growth in children older than 11.4 years. This is a key trial that evaluated the importance of nutrition for preadolescents and is certain to inspire more research.”

In September, Nutritional Growth Solutions introduced the formula in the United States as Grow Daily Boys 10+, under the Healthy Heights™ family of products. Looking forward, the company hopes to bring the formula to other markets it operates in, including APAC and Europe." 

Each serving of Grow Daily Boys 10+ contains 18 grams of whey protein, healthful lipids, complex carbohydrates, as well as zinc, calcium, iron, and vitamins A, D, and C. The shake mix comes in chocolate, vanilla, and “plain”, a neutral flavor perfect for adding into smoothies, baked goods and many other recipes.