Feeding practices and nutrient content of complementary meals in rural central Tanzania: implications for dietary adequacy and nutritional status
Kulwa et al. BMC Pediatrics
Feeding practices and nutrient content of complementary meals in rural central Tanzania: implications for dietary adequacy and nutritional status
Kissa B. M. Kulwa 0 1
Peter S. Mamiro 0
Martin E. Kimanya 2
Rajab Mziray 4
Patrick W. Kolsteren 1 3
0 Department of Food Science and Technology, Sokoine University of Agriculture , P.O. Box 3006 Chuo Kikuu, Morogoro , Tanzania
1 Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Ghent University , Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent , Belgium
2 Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology , P.O. Box 447, Arusha , Tanzania
3 Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine , Nationalestraat 155, 2000 Antwerp , Belgium
4 Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority , P.O. Box 77150, Dar-es-Salaam , Tanzania
Background: Stunting and micronutrient deficiencies are significant health problems among infants and young children in rural Tanzania. Objective of the study was to assess feeding practices, nutrient content of complementary meals, and their implications for dietary adequacy and nutritional status. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in six randomly selected villages in Mpwapwa District, Tanzania during the post-harvest season. Information on feeding practices, dietary consumption and anthropometric measurements of all infants below the age of one year were collected. Forty samples of common meals were collected and analysed for proximate composition, iron, zinc and calcium. Results were expressed per 100 g dry weight. Results: Energy, protein and fat content in porridge ranged from 40.67-63.92 kcal, 0.54-1.74 % and 0.30-2.12 %, respectively. Iron, zinc and calcium contents (mg/100 g) in porridge were 0.11-2.81, 0.10-3.23, and 25.43-125.55, respectively. Median portion sizes were small (porridge: 150-350 g; legumes and meats: 39-90 g). Very few children (6.67 %) consumed animal-source foods. Low meal frequency, low nutrient content, small portion size and limited variety reduced the contribution of meals to daily nutritional needs. Conclusions: Findings of the study highlight inadequate feeding practices, low nutritional quality of meals and high prevalence of stunting. Feasible strategies are needed to address the dietary inadequacies and chronic malnutrition of rural infants.
Tanzania; Complementary foods; Feeding practices; Energy; Iron; Zinc
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Background
Widespread undernutrition in low-income countries
continues to exert enormous cost in terms of survival
among infants and young children [1, 2]. Chronic
undernutrition (defined as stunting) and micronutrient
deficiencies are significant health problems among infants
and young children in Tanzania. Prevalence of stunting
among children aged 6–59 months in the 2005 and 2010
national surveys was 37.7 % and 42 %, respectively [3, 4].
Children in rural areas were more affected than their
urban counterparts. Coexistence of micronutrient
deficiencies with undernutrition has been demonstrated in
cross-sectional studies [5, 6]. National data has also
shown inadequate consumption of micronutrient-rich
foods. Proportion of children (6–35 months-old) who
consumed iron-rich foods was 29.8 %, whereas that of
vitamin A-rich foods was 61.5 % [4]. Inadequate dietary
intakes and poor feeding practices directly affect the
nutritional status of children in the country. This situation
is aggravated by household food insecurity.
Households in rural Tanzania depend on rain-fed,
small subsistence farming for their livelihoods. Rainfall
variability (e.g. timing, amount, frequency, patterns),
widespread in semi-arid areas of the country, affects the
timing of crop harvests and amount of food stocks in
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central regions (Dodoma, Singida). Dwindling food stocks,
increasing food prices and seasonal shifting of maternal
workload towards casual labour are apparent during the
post-harvest season [7]. It was reported that 45–55 % of
households in central regions were food insecure in 2006,
whereas over one-third of households with tenuous access
to food were reported in 2010 [7]. Proportion of
households receiving food aid in Dodoma was 66.6 %.
These challenges demonstrate that many households
in Dodoma are vulnerable to food insecurity. This
situation provided a context in which to evaluate the extent
to which household dietary vulnerability modifies
feeding practices, diets and nutritional status (...truncated)