Raymond Jofrey, Kassim Neema, Rose Jerman W, Agaba Morris
School of Life Science and Bioengineering, Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), Arusha, Tanzania.
SolBridge International School of Business, Woosong University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
Food Nutr Res. 2017 Jul 30;61(1):1358035. doi: 10.1080/16546628.2017.1358035. eCollection 2017.
: Achieving nutritional goals of infants and young children while maintaining the intake of local and culture-specific foods can be a daunting task. Diet optimisation using linear goal programming (LP) can effectively generate optimal formulations incorporating local and culturally acceptable foods. : The primary objective of this study was to determine whether a realistic and affordable diet that achieves dietary recommended intakes (DRIs) for 22 selected nutrients can be formulated for rural 6-23-month-old children in Tanzania. : Dietary intakes of 400 children aged 6-23 months were assessed using a weighed dietary record (WDR), 24-hour dietary recalls and a 7-days food record. A market survey was also carried out to estimate the cost per 100 g of edible portion of foods that are commonly consumed in the study area. Dietary and market survey data were then used to define LP model parameters for diet optimisation. All LP analyses were done using linear program solver (LiPS) version 1.9.4 to generate optimal food formulations. : Optimal formulations that achieved DRIs for 20 nutrients for children aged 6-11 months and all selected nutrients for children aged 12-23 months were successfully developed at a twofold cost of the observed food purchase across age groups. Optimal formulations contained a mixture of ingredients such as wholegrain cereals, Irish potatoes, pulses and seeds, fish and poultry meat as well as fruits and vegetables that can be sourced locally. : Our findings revealed that given the available food choices, it is possible to develop optimal formulations that can improve dietary adequacy for rural 6-23-month-old children if food budget for the child's diets is doubled. These findings suggest the need for setting alternative interventions which can help households increase access to nutrient-dense foods that can fill the identified nutrient gaps.
在保证婴幼儿摄入当地特色食物的同时实现营养目标，可能是一项艰巨的任务。运用线性目标规划（LP）进行饮食优化，能够有效地制定出包含当地及文化上可接受食物的最佳配方。
本研究的主要目的是确定能否为坦桑尼亚农村地区6至23个月大的儿童制定出一种既现实又经济实惠的饮食方案，使其达到22种选定营养素的膳食推荐摄入量（DRIs）。
采用称重饮食记录（WDR）、24小时膳食回顾和7天食物记录的方法，对400名6至23个月大儿童的膳食摄入量进行了评估。还开展了一项市场调查，以估算研究区域内常见食用食物每100克可食用部分的成本。然后，利用膳食和市场调查数据来定义用于饮食优化的LP模型参数。所有LP分析均使用线性规划求解器（LiPS）1.9.4版本来生成最佳食物配方。
以各年龄组观察到的食物购买成本的两倍，成功制定出了6至11个月大儿童20种营养素以及12至23个月大儿童所有选定营养素达到DRIs的最佳配方。最佳配方包含多种食材，如全谷物谷物、爱尔兰土豆、豆类和种子、鱼类和禽肉以及当地可获取的水果和蔬菜。
我们研究结果表明，鉴于现有的食物选择，如果将儿童饮食的食物预算翻倍，就有可能制定出能够改善农村6至23个月大儿童膳食充足性的最佳配方。这些研究结果表明，有必要制定替代干预措施，以帮助家庭增加获取能够填补所确定营养素缺口的营养密集型食物的机会。
