Field studies in Bangladesh demonstrated that after proper training, village mothers were able to prepare and use rice-based,
salt-enriched
oral rehydration solutions containing safe concentrations of
sodium, and were capable of achieving significantly fewer treatment failures and a reduction in the duration of
diarrhea than with
glucose-based
oral rehydration solutions (
ORS). An additional longitudinal study showed that improved growth and
weight gain occurred with the consistent use of
ORS; the effect was greater when rice-based
ORS were used. In addition, the following possible limitations and benefits of cereal-based
oral rehydration therapy, which are relevant to the strategies for its implementation in national diarrheal disease control programs, are discussed: safety, osmolarity,
hypernatremia, spoiling, effectiveness,
rehydration ability, reduction in
diarrhea volume and duration, nutritional effects, effect on food intake, acceptance and usage by care givers, training of health workers, self-reliance of families, effect on other child survival activities, costs, potential problems in changing to cereal-based
ORS, and the role of industrial production in packaged cereal-based
ORS.