Formulation of Low Cost Complementary Baby Food to Improve the Nutritional Status of the Malnourished Children in Bangladesh

Abstract

In the present study we formulated a low cost complementary baby food and investigated its role to improve the nutritional status of the malnourished baby. One hundred gm of complementary baby food was prepared by blending of 40 gm cereal powder, 16 gm green gram powder, 14 gm sesame powder, 14 gm banana powder, 10 gm pumpkin powder and 6 gm sugar powder according to the proportion of balanced diet. The formulated complementary baby food contained 336.5 Kcal energy and 6.56% moisture, 1.76% crude fiber, 17.5% protein, 13.7% fat, 31.31% carbohydrate, 30.93% ash, 27.7 mg of vitamin C, 210 µg of vitamin E, 30.15 mg of iron, 45.32 mg of zinc, 470.3 mg of calcium, 73.6 mg of magnesium and 1100 µg β-carotene. Impact of formulated complementary food to improve nutritional status was observed by conducting a cross-sectional study on 27 suspected malnourished children living in low socioeconomic status. According to the anthropometric data 18 children were found to be malnourished. From the 18 children, 13 children were taken as Feeding Group and remaining 5 children taken as Control Group. We found that 30.76% children were severe malnourished, 46.15% children were moderate malnourished and 23.07% children were mild malnourished according to Gomez classification. Nutritional status of the feeding and control group was investigated during the three months study period. It was found that control group gradually lost their weight (wasting) during the study periods due to faulty feeding practices and lack of calorie intake. Percent weight loss (wasting) at the end of the study period for Control-1, Control-2, Control-3, Control-4 and Control-5 were 8.60%, 7.14%, 8.33%, 10.0%, and 9.25% respectively. While the newly formulated complementary baby food was provided 120gm/day for the severe malnourished children and 80gm/day for the mild to moderate malnourished children during the study period. It was found that the formulated complementary baby food can reverse muscle wasting and improving nutritional status of the malnourished children during the study period. Thus newly formulated complementary baby food was efficiently providing both calorie and other dietary essentials to the malnourished children.