EVALUATION OF WEANING DIETS IN PERI URBAN KUMASI, GHANA

This work evaluates the commonly used weaning diets in peri-urban Kuma si, Ghana, in terms of the type of diets, daily energy and nutrient in takes of the infants, frequency of feeding, and the chemical compositi on of the diets,Women with children of up to two years old in peri-urb an communities of Kumasi municipality of Ghana, were interviewed in a cross-sectional survey. One hundred and seventy two mothers were rando mly sampled and questioned on their socio-economic characteristics, ty pes of weaning diets they give to their children, and the dietary inta kes of their children. Composition of the commonly used weaning diets, and the daily energy and protein intakes of the children were determi ned,liquid weaning diets were introduced at a mean age of 2.2 +/- 2.4 months earlier than recommended, but solids were at appropriate time ( 5 - 7 months). The energy and protein intakes of the children were low , meeting only 49% and 90% of their respective recommended daily intak es. This is attributed to the low energy and protein densities of the commonly used liquid diet, koko, and low energy and nutrient contents of other weaning diets. It is recommended that an innovative nutrition education package that re-emphasises the need to introduce weaning di ets with continued frequent breast feeding to ensure adequate caloric and protein intakes should be designed and implemented.