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Adaptation of New Colombian Food-based Complementary Feeding Recommendations Using Linear Programming
Marion Tharrey1, Gilma A Olaya2,3, Mary Fewtrell2
1Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Insights
Adapting New Complementary Feeding Guidelines (NCFg) using linear programming (LP) analyses improved dietary adequacy for young children. Including legumes, dairy, and fortified foods is crucial for nutrient intake in children aged 12 to 23 months.
Area of Science:
- Nutrition Science
- Public Health
- Mathematical Modeling
Background:
- Complementary feeding guidelines are crucial for infant nutrition.
- Existing guidelines may not meet the needs of all age groups or socioeconomic contexts.
- Adapting guidelines requires understanding local food availability and nutrient requirements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To adapt New Complementary Feeding Guidelines (NCFg) for infants aged 6-12 months to ensure dietary adequacy for children aged 12-23 months.
- To utilize linear programming (LP) analyses for optimizing dietary recommendations.
- To assess the impact of food-based recommendations (FBRs) on micronutrient adequacy.
Main Methods:
- Secondary data analysis of dietary and anthropometric data from 72 infants.
- Linear programming (LP) analyses to identify nutrient shortfalls with local foods.
- Comparison of NCFg and alternative FBRs for 11 micronutrients at the population level.
Main Results:
- Thiamine intake was insufficient with local foods alone.
- NCFg achieved adequacy for 4 micronutrients; alternative FBRs improved this to 8.
- No tested FBRs ensured adequacy for thiamine, niacin, and iron without fortified infant food.
Conclusions:
- Linear programming (LP) is valuable for adapting feeding guidelines for different age groups.
- Adapted guidelines for 12-23 month olds should incorporate legumes, dairy, vitamin A-rich vegetables, organ meat, and fortified foods.
- Dietary adequacy requires careful consideration of local foods and specific nutrient needs.
Objective:
The aim of the study was to use linear programming (LP) analyses to adapt New Complementary Feeding Guidelines (NCFg) designed for infants aged 6 to 12 months living in poor socioeconomic circumstances in Bogota to ensure dietary adequacy for young children aged 12 to 23 months.
Design:
A secondary data analysis was performed using dietary and anthropometric data collected from 12-month-old infants (n = 72) participating in a randomized controlled trial. LP analyses were performed to identify nutrients whose requirements were difficult to achieve using local foods as consumed; and to test and compare the NCFg and alternative food-based recommendations (FBRs) on the basis of dietary adequacy, for 11 micronutrients, at the population level.
Results:
Thiamine recommended nutrient intakes for these young children could not be achieved given local foods as consumed. NCFg focusing only on meat, fruits, vegetables, and breast milk ensured dietary adequacy at the population level for only 4 micronutrients, increasing to 8 of 11 modelled micronutrients when the FBRs promoted legumes, dairy, vitamin A-rich vegetables, and chicken giblets. None of the FBRs tested ensured population-level dietary adequacy for thiamine, niacin, and iron unless a fortified infant food was recommended.
Conclusions:
The present study demonstrated the value of using LP to adapt NCFg for a different age group than the one for which they were designed. Our analyses suggest that to ensure dietary adequacy for 12- to 23-month olds these adaptations should include legumes, dairy products, vitamin A-rich vegetables, organ meat, and a fortified food.
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