Risk factors associated with stunting among infants and young children aged 6 - 23 months in Dedza District of central Malawi

The prevalence of stunting is high in Malawi, affecting about one third (31.2%) of children aged 6-23 months. Persistent inappropriate feeding practices are some of the major causes of stunting in young children. This study was conducted to determine risk factors associated with stunting among infants and young children aged 6-23 months in Dedza district in Central Malawi. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 12 villages in Mayani Extension Planning Area (EPA), targeting households with children aged 6-23 months. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the primary caregivers on household socioeconomic characteristics, household food availability, dietary diversity, responsive feeding practices among mothers and caregivers, age of introduction of complementary foods, frequency of feeding, types of foods and dietary diversity of children. Anthropometric data (weight and recumbent length) for children were measured using standard procedures. The Multivariate Logistic Regression Analysis was performed to study the independent associations of various determinants on prevalence of stunting with prevalence of stunting as a dependent variable. A total of 303 households were sampled randomly; mothers and caregivers were interviewed and 306 children were assessed for nutritional status. Introduction of complementary food varied among mothers, 9.3% introduced earlier than 6 months, 71.1% at 6 months and 10.2% later than 6 months. Dietary diversity was low but increased significantly with age categories of children, 2.9% for children 6-8 months, 15.5% for 9-11 months and 24.6% for 12-23 months (p<0.01). Minimum meal frequency was significantly (p<0.001) higher in children 6-8 months (58.7%) than in children 12-23 months (1.9%). Overall, out of the 306 children 47.1% [95% CI (41.6-53.1)] were stunted. Stunting was significantly different between male [54.5%; 95% CI (47.0-63.5)] and female (39.5%; 95% CI (31.4-47.6)] children. Age of child when complementary feeding was started [AOR: 0.138; 95% CI (0.22-0.88)], number of young children in the household [AOR: 2.548; 95% CI (1.304-4.981)] and teenage mothers [AOR: 1.265; 95% CI (0.379-1.724)] were significant independent predictors of stunting. It can be concluded that prevalence of stunting is high among infants and young children in Dedza district. Training mothers and caregivers on recommended age of introducing complementary food to a child, composition of such food, dangers of teenage pregnancies and importance of child spacing should form part of nutrition education.Keywords: Nutritional status, dietary diversity, complementary feeding, meal frequency, responsive feedin

Influence of gendered roles on legume utilization and improved child dietary intake in Malawi

The relationship between gender roles, legume production, utilization and child feeding practices in rural smallholder households of Dedza and Ntcheu districts in Malawi was investigated and analyzed. A cross-sectional research study was conducted with legume farming households with children aged 6-23 months who were part of the Africa RISING ‘mother trial’ or ‘baby trials’ for two farming seasons (2014/2015 to 2015/2016). Africa RISING project encourages smallholder farmers to grow legumes namely, groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) and soya bean (Glycin max) as one way of improving the wellbeing of smallholder farmers. The key objective of the research was to assess the influence of gender roles, legume production, utilization and infant and young child dietary intake. In total, 291 households with children 6-23 months were targeted. Eight focus group discussions (FDGs) for in-depth qualitative data were conducted. Two 24-hour dietary recalls and food frequency questionnaires were used to collect data on infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices. Data collected were extracted, arranged, recorded and analyzed by using SPSS version 21. About 18% of children aged 6-23 months received a minimum dietary diversity (the consumption of four or more food groups from the seven food groups), 2.5% received a minimum acceptable diet (indicator measures both the minimum feeding frequency and minimum dietary diversity, as appropriate for various age groups) and 37.5% of children received a minimum meal frequency (frequency of receiving solid, semi-solid, or soft foods at the minimum numbers of two and three times for children aged 6–8 months, and 9–23 months, respectively). Control on use of income by women had a positive and significant association with minimum dietary diversity (P<0.05), minimum meal frequency (P<0.05) and minimum acceptable diets (P<0.05) among children of both sexes. Children aged 6-23 months from households where women were actively involved in partial processing and budgeting of legumes met minimum dietary diversity than children from nonparticipating households. Women farmers were more knowledgeable about legumes; played an important role in seed selection, storage and processing; however, the findings signal an opportunity to increase women’s income by involving them in market information. Increasing legume production at household level does not mean increasing the nutritional status among children (6-23 months). Several factors related to gender roles, markets accessibility and legume utilization have an effect on infant and young child feeding practices

Effect of heat moisture treatment on physicochemical and pasting properties of starch extracted from eleven sweet potato varieties

Starch separated from eleven sweet potato varieties was subjected to heat moisture treatment (HMT) at 30% moisture and 110°C for 3 hours. Following HMT, there were no significant changes in physicochemical properties of the starches. This was attributed to limited moisture content (30%) to influence hydration that could consequently alter granule morphology. Further, chemical parameters such as amylose content, pH and phosphorus were not affected because HMT is a physical treatment. In contrast, HMT caused changes in the packing arrangement of the polymer chains leading to enhanced intragranular binding. Alteration of the internal organisation of the granules caused significant changes in pasting properties of the starches such as pasting time, pasting temperature, peak viscosity, hot paste viscosity, cold paste viscosity, breakdown, set back and stability ratios. The findings provide evidence that functionality of sweet potato starch can be altered to suit a particular industrial need

Physicochemical and pasting properties of starch extracted from eleven sweetpotato varieties

Physicochemical and pasting properties of starch extracted from eleven sweetpotato varieties wereevaluated. Relationships between starch properties were determined using correlation analysis.Significant differences were revealed among the physicochemical properties such as amylose, pH,granule size and size distribution. According to the Rapid visco analyzer (RVA) viscosity profiles, allstarches exhibited a type A profile which is characterized by high peak viscosity followed by majorbreakdown. However, significant differences were observed in individual pasting parameters such aspasting time, hot paste viscosity, cold paste viscosity, stability ratio, setback ratio and breakdown. Theresults revealed that variety has an effect on composition and pasting properties of sweetpotato starch.Correlations developed in this study were useful in predicting starch functionality when applied in foodindustry