en |
MODIFICATION OF LOCAL DIETS TO IMPROVE VITAMIN A, IRON AND PROTEIN CONTENTS FOR CHILDREN AGED 6 TO 23 MONTHS IN KAGERA, TANZANIA
Mbela, DEN; Kinabo, J; Mwanri, AW & Ekesa, B
Abstract
The banana-based farming system of Kagera region of Tanzania has good edible food
diversity. However, households still consume monotonous diets, which are mainly
energy dense and have inadequate content of micronutrients. To enrich the preferred
energy-rich diets, this study formulated dishes with improved content of vitamin A, iron
and protein for children aged between 6 to 23 months. Mothers (n = 50) were randomly
selected from Izimbya ward and participated in a recipe development exercise whereby
five recipes modified from the traditional banana based ‘katogo’/’matoke’ and three
types of porridges were developed using locally available foods such as bananas, beans,
amaranths, red palm oil, pumpkin, groundnut, maize and orange-fleshed sweet potato
(OFSP). Mothers were asked to give options of improving the porridge intended to be
fed to children as well as to propose means of improving the local banana diets. Vitamin
A was increased by red palm oil, OFSP, pumpkin fruit and leaves in the modified recipes.
Red kidney beans formed a good source of iron, protein and energy when incorporated
in complementary foods. The family dishes and children’s local popular dishes were
modified to improve the consistency by making a purée to increase food intake and,
therefore, vitamin A, iron and protein. Based on the food composition table, the
developed recipes contained more than 100% of vitamin A and protein and between 61%
to 99% of the iron recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for children 6-23months. The
conversion factor of 12:1 for beta-carotene was used. Vitamin A, iron, protein and energy
content in modified recipes ranged from 108-2768 RAE, 6-17 mg, 28-56 g and 697-1635
kcal, in 500g consumption portion, respectively. The created recipes based on locally
available and affordable ingredients have a potential to meet RDAs of vitamin A, iron
and protein for children aged 6 to 23 months in the banana-based system and other
communities in Africa with the same settings. The communities need to establish home
gardens so as to use vegetables and foods which are cheap and good sources of
micronutrients and protein.
Keywords
Dietary modification; local diets; children; vitamin A; iron; protein
|