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Stunting, and to a lesser extent wasting and undernutrition, of children under five years constitutes a serious health problem in Zambia. Although non-nutritional causes such as infection and poverty importantly exacerbate these conditions, improvements in the diets of children is vital for better health. The age interval beginning at about six months is an especially vulnerable time for children, when they are being weaned from breast milk to conventionally used cultural foods. The current study reports assessments by mothers of nine experimental weaning mixtures, formulated by computer to be low cost and nutritionally superior to maize meal alone. An incomplete block design with randomization was used to compare the nine weaning food blends, differentially constituted to address specific conditions. One group of 127 mothers (or guardians) of children 6 to 27 months judged cooked porridges prepared from the blends. The alternate group of 140 mothers of children from 5 to 30 months evaluated characteristics of uncooked porridge ingredients. Statistical analyses of hedonic scale ratings and tabulation of mothers' voluntary comments were performed. With few exceptions, blend macronutrient/energy characteristics generally conformed to proposed standards in Codex Alimentarius and other literature guidelines. Mixture levels of 20 vitamins and minerals were estimated. A rice-containing formula was most expensive and a high maize/moderate soy formulation the least costly in price assessment. Acceptability results showed that in addition to maize meal and nonfat dry milk, the most acceptable mixtures contained bambara nuts or soybeans as chief ingredients. Blends with substantial percentages of millet, sorghum, or kapenta were not ordinarily acceptable. It was observed that all four cooked porridge quality factors were significantly (p = 0.01) related with each other, and that both ingredient set rating categories were likewise significantly (p = 0,01) related. It is emphasized that nutrient contributions of the weaning mixtures are meant for further complementation by concurrent feeding of breast milk, by appropriate use of micronutrient powders or lipidbased micronutrient spreads, and by market or home produced foods. Acceptability results of this study may be influenced by factors such as commodity cost variations, food donations, mother education, and processing cooperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a public health problem in Ghana. Research on the orange flesh sweetpotato root has been given prominence because of its high β-carotene content as a means to enhance the nutritive value and vitamin A content of the traditional diets of Ghanaian children as a long-term intervention towards combating VAD. Two Ghanaian cereal-legume weaning foods: roasted maize- soy blend and fermented maize-soy blend were added to Orange Flesh Sweetpotato (OFS) flour from the variety, Beauregard, to develop four weaning food formulations. To each product formulation preparation, 25% and 50% OFS flour was added to the basic cereal-legume meals, and mixed thoroughly. The four weaning formulations were evaluated for chemical composition, sensory characteristics and consumer acceptability. All samples had a range of protein (12.1% - 15%), fat (4.8% - 6.4%), carbohydrate (71.1% - 75.1%), energy (380 - 390 kcal/100g) and minerals (calcium, iron and phosphorus) to ensure good nutrient density, while the moisture content was low (5.3% - 6.1%) for storage stability. The contribution of β-carotene (55.18-115.55 ug/g) by the OFS in the formulations further enhanced the nutritive value of all the blends and is enough to meet the daily β-carotene needs of the children (1-6 yrs of 400-450ug/100g). A higher level of β-carotene was seen in the roasted maize meal weaning foods which makes them a better potential blend for combating VAD. Also, sensory evaluation of the products indicated the highest consumer acceptability score (87%) for the roasted maize meal porridge formulation containing 25% OFS. It is, therefore, concluded that OFS flour has the potential to be used at 25% replacement level in the soy-fortified roasted maize meal formulation, and OFS is a useful ingredient with the potential to improve the β-carotene or vitamin A content of such formulations. This will help alleviate vitamin A deficiency of children in Ghana and other countries with similar problems. It is, therefore, recommended that the orange flesh sweetpotato flour be used by mothers as an entry point for enhancing the traditional weaning food preparations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]