Micronutrient Adequacy of Home Made Complementary Foods in Meket District, Wollo, North Ethiopia
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Date
2019-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Undernutrition is a serious problem worldwide due to unbalanced diet or infection . Children
during the first two years of li fe are vulnerable to several nutrition related prob lems including
micronutrient deficiencies. Due to lim ited education of mother's, poor resource avai labi lity and
access to different micronutrient rich food items, ach ieving better nutrition seems to be difficult.
Tn resource poor environments, the hab it of low quality monotonous diets leads to low vitamin
and mineral intake. Women's education, access to nutrient-rich foods and household food security
are the determinants of nutritional status of children. The present study was designed to detennine
the micronutrient adequacy of homemade complementary foods in Meket district, North Wallo,
Ethiopia. A cross sectional quantitative 24-hour recall was used to assess the micronutrient intake
of children (6-23 mol. From two randomly selected kebeles, 78 chi ldren (6 to 23 mol were the
subject of the study. Undern utrition was high among the chi ldren. About 45.5% of the chi ldren
were stunted. Majority (92.3%) of the children's diet was cereal based and none of the children
had animal source foods in the 24 hrs preceding the survey; only eight (8 .97%) children were
given cow milk. DietalY diversity was very low; on average, the children consumed 2.52±0.78
food groups and 3.32+ 1.23 food va ri eties. Feeding practices were very poor (initiation of
complementary feeding was practiced allO months on 33 (42.3%), at II mo on 35 (44.9%) and at
12 on 10 (12.8%) of chi ldren, frequency of complementary feeding was two - three times in
59.5% children). The nutrient intakes of the children in a group indicated that mean energy intake
199.08± 11 5.9 1, Iron intake (for 9- 11 mo ages) 3.37±2. 13, Zinc intake 1.76±1.45 Calcium intake
19.8±9.28 and Vitamin A intake 30.8±17.3 and Iron intake (for 12-23 mo age) 4.3±2. 12, Zinc
intake 1.8±0.8, Calcium intake J5.6±4.83 and Vitamin A 34.4 I± J8.46 were below the WHO
recommendations. Lack of mothers awareness on app ropri ate complementary feeding and child
caring pract ices, high cost of ASF foods and time constraints of the mother counts poor
consumption and limited intake of nutrient. Generally due to low dietary intake, the nutrient
intake of the children did not meet the recommended level (346, 5.6 and 3.8 is estimated daily
intake ofCa, iron and zinc respectively).
Key words:Complementary foods, micro nutrient, mothers 'Fcaregivers ' perspective, in fant feeding
practice.
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Keywords
Complementary foods, micro nutrient