An Evaluation of Two Multimixes as Weaning Foods in Nigerian Children

Abstract

Summary: Two locally prepared multimixes (one containing rice, beans and carrots (RBC) and the other containing rice, fish and carrots (RFC)] were evaluated in the feeding of young children in a small village. The first multimix (RBC) was fed to five children and the second (RFC) to four children, aged between nine and 13 months, for a period of six weeks. Weights and lengths were monitored weekly over the period, while the haemoglobin and haematocrit values were determined at the beginning and at the end of the study. Both multimixes produced a significant increase in weight, RBC producing a weight gain of 1.96 +0.55kg (t= 7.897, p=0.001) and RFC 1.90 +0.52 kg (t= 7.359, p=0.005). The growth velocity of all the children increased during the trial and their standardised weights crossed percentile lines by 15 to 26 percentiles. There were however, no significant increases in length, and haemoglobin levels. The two multimixes met the protein, energy and vitamina requirements of the infants but were short in their daily iron requirements. The results indicate that both multimixes were adequate in feeding young children and in improving their weight gain. It is however, recommended that such locally prepared multimixes be further evaluated in larger numbers of infants, before their widespread adoption.

Keywords

• infant feeding
• multimix
• weight gain
• anthropometry