Department of Food Biotechnology and Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania.
Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana, USA.
Matern Child Nutr. 2021 Oct;17(4):e13188. doi: 10.1111/mcn.13188. Epub 2021 May 4.
Complementary feeding of 6- to 24-month-old infants and young children with adequate, safe and developmentally appropriate food is essential to child health. Inappropriate complementary foods and feeding practices are linked to the high incidences of undernutrition among infant and young children in most developing countries, including Tanzania. Mycotoxin risk is an additional concern, given the documented presence of aflatoxin and fumonisin in food systems of Africa, especially maize and groundnut. In preparation for a trial of mycotoxin mitigation, we conducted focus group discussions and recipe trials to explore complementary foods and feeding practices in Kongwa, a rural district of central Tanzania. Sixty mothers of infants from 6 to 18 months of age in five villages across the district were purposefully sampled. During focus group discussions, mothers reported to mostly feed their children with cereal and groundnut-based foods as thin or thick porridges. The most common porridge preparations contained cereal (mostly, maize) ranging from 66.7% to 80.0% by weight and groundnuts from 7.7% to 33.3%. The ratio of cereal to groundnut ranged from 3:1 to 4:1. For the recipe trial sessions, mothers chose similar ingredients reported during discussions to prepare complementary foods. The reliance on maize and groundnuts in complementary foods predisposes the children to undernutrition and exposure to aflatoxins and fumonisins. These formative research results suggest multiple intervention points to improve complementary feeding and reduce mycotoxin exposure in this population, including education messages package on feeding practices, mycotoxin control practices and complementary food formulation.
为 6 至 24 个月大的婴幼儿提供充足、安全和适合其发育的补充食物，对于儿童健康至关重要。在大多数发展中国家，包括坦桑尼亚，不适当的补充食品和喂养方式与婴幼儿营养不足的高发率有关。鉴于非洲的食物系统中存在黄曲霉毒素和伏马菌素，真菌毒素风险是一个额外的关注点，特别是玉米和花生。在为真菌毒素缓解试验做准备时，我们进行了焦点小组讨论和食谱试验，以探索坦桑尼亚中部 Kongwa 地区的补充食品和喂养方式。五个村庄的 60 名 6 至 18 个月大婴儿的母亲被有意抽样。在焦点小组讨论中，母亲们报告说，她们主要给孩子喂食谷类和花生类食物，作为稀薄或浓稠的粥。最常见的粥类准备含有谷物（主要是玉米），重量占 66.7%至 80.0%，花生占 7.7%至 33.3%。谷物与花生的比例为 3:1 至 4:1。在食谱试验期间，母亲们选择了在讨论中报告的类似成分来准备补充食品。在补充食品中依赖玉米和花生会使儿童容易出现营养不足，并接触到黄曲霉毒素和伏马菌素。这些形成性研究结果表明，有多个干预点可以改善该人群的补充喂养，并减少真菌毒素暴露，包括关于喂养实践、真菌毒素控制实践和补充食品配方的教育信息包。
