Browsing by Author "Garcia Acosta, Ivan Jesus"

Background and aims: Infants under two years of age have significant nutritional demands to promote growth and development, and to prevent malnutrition. However, in low-income countries, complementary feeding practices are often inadequate. In Kenya, there is a low availability of nutrient-dense complementary foods for infants in this age group. Thus, micronutrient deficiencies are widespread among infants and young children. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the gaps in the nutritional intake of infants aged 6-23 months living in Nairobi City County and Chuka Town, Kenya, and to examine if there were any specific dietary patterns associated with those gaps. Further, since earlier studies have demonstrated the high nutritional value and potential of amaranth to improve the diet of Kenyan infants, the suitability of amaranth foods for the improvement of infants’ diets in the study areas will be discussed. Methods: This thesis uses data from the InnoFoodAfrica Food Consumption Survey in Kenya in 2021. Single 24-hour recalls, and background questionnaires were available from 407 infants aged 6-23 months (207 from Nairobi City County and from 200 Chuka Town). Median nutrient intakes and interquartile range were compared to the recommendations by the WHO to define a nutrient gap. Dietary patterns were extracted with principal component analysis. The association between dietary patterns and nutrient gaps was evaluated using logistic regression analysis with age, gender, and infant’s energy intake as confounding variables. Results: Among infants aged 6-23 months assumed nutritional gaps were identified in folate, niacin, thiamin, vitamin B12, calcium, and zinc. Three dietary patterns were extracted based on the dietary data: “high-carbs” (high in cereals, bakery products, sugars) “high-fat” (high in oils, fats, fried potatoes, chips, popcorn), and “healthy” (high in egg dishes, roots and tuber dishes, vegetables, and fruits). Both the “high-carbs” and “healthy” patterns were associated with a higher likelihood of meeting the recommendations for most of the nutrients. The “high-fat” pattern was only associated with the likelihood of meeting the recommendations of vitamin B12 and zinc. Conclusions: In this population of infants from Nairobi City County and Chuka Town, Kenya, assumed nutritional gaps are present in the intake of niacin, thiamin, folate, vitamin B12, calcium and zinc. The “high-fat” pattern, associated with a lower likelihood of meeting the recommended intakes for most nutrients, may be associated with the nutritional gaps. Based on nutrient composition of amaranth flour (analyzed in the InnoFoodAfrica project), amaranth would not be suitable for the preparation of snacks to fill the gaps of the infants’ diets.