ADDRESSING CHILD FEEDING CONCERNS OF WOMEN FARMERS IN MALI - COMPOSITION AND EFFECTS ON CHILD NUTRITION OF A LOCALLY DEVELOPED WEANING FOOD

A feeding trial of a weaning food composed of a mixture of 80 percent pearl millet and 20 percent cowpea flours was conducted in two village s of the ''Operation Haute Valle'' (OHV) region of central Mall. One h undred gram packets of the mixture were supplied daily for six months to mothers of 55 malnourished preschoolers (ages 6-36 months) and fed as a gruel in place of the traditional 100% pearl millet or 100% sorgh um weaning food. The mixture contained 8% more protein and 46% more fa t than pure millet. It was limiting in lysine and had an amino acid sc ore of 60. The mixture was acceptable to 89% of the children and provi ded an estimated 29 to 44% of their daily caloric and 34% of their dai ly protein requirements. Mean body weight of the children increased du ring the study by 21%. A 10% decrease was noted in the percentage of c hildren in the lowest centile in the distribution of weight-for-height centiles between the start and the end of the study when compared wit h a reference population. Monthly fluctuations in mean body weights in both villages were attributed to recurrent illnesses.