By Sharon Omahen

University of Georgia

University of Georgia food scientists and their colleagues at the
University of Ghana, Legon have developed infant foods that have
been used to improve the nutritional status of malnourished
children in some communities in Ghana.

“A significant subpopulation of children in the region often
suffers from extreme protein malnutrition,” said Robert Phillips,
a food scientist with the UGA College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.

Children need protein

Unlike adults in these regions, growing children can’t survive
solely on cereal-based foods.

“A child’s essential amino-acid requirement on a body-weight
basis is nearly 10 times that of an adult,” Phillips said. “They
just can’t survive on starchy weaning foods. They have to have
additional protein, too.”

“These children often develop edema,” he said, “which causes
their stomachs to swell, making them appear fat when, in fact,
they’re very malnourished.”

These children also often suffer hair loss and loss of hair
pigmentation, he said.

“You can spot the children who are in the extreme stages of
malnutrition, because they have red hair instead of black hair,”
he said. “This is just one sign of lack of protein or low
protein.”

Sometimes cultural practices prevent parents in underdeveloped
countries from providing their children a protein food even when
it’s available, he said.

“For example, some parents won’t give the children eggs because
they think it will make them want to steal eggs,” Phillips said.
“Of course, this is not true. But it’s an old myth, similar to
many still in existence in our own society.”

Extending existing work

To address this growing health issue, Phillips and UGA graduate
student Yvonne Mensa-Wilmot, a native of Ghana in West Africa,
extended previous work on weaning foods.

The principle of protein complementation – the blending of
different proteins to optimize the resulting essential amino acid
content – was used. Previously in Ghana, a formula called
“weanimix,” made from crops indigenous to the region, had been
introduced.

Phillips and Mensa-Wilmot also used combinations of cowpeas,
peanuts, and corn, all staple crops in the area, as well as
soybean, a non-traditional crop being promoted for this purpose.
The formulas were designed for children 6 to 9 months old and had
built-in convenience for mothers preparing it.

The approach was to use computer programs to optimize amino acid
profiles of blends. Ingredients were then processed by extrusion
cooking, enzyme action, and other approaches to yield
ready-to-use formulas that had to simply be mixed with hot water
prior to serving. The resulting formulas were extensively
analyzed for nutritional and physical properties.

The research project was funded by the U.S. Agency for
International Development’s Bean/Cowpea Collaborative Research
Support Program (CRSP). As part of the collaboration,
Mensa-Wilmot traveled to Ghana to survey mothers’ responses to
the food
and their willingness to accept and use it.

Dramatic results

On the weaning formula project, Sam Sefa-Dedeh and Esther
Sakyi-Dawson, both with the Department of Nutrition and Food
Science at the University of Ghana-Legon, have developed other
high protein foods. One of their weaning foods is based on the
traditional fermented maize dough fortified with cowpeas.

“They conducted the outreach efforts to introduce the food to
some villages,” said Phillips. In the communities where the
fortified food was tested the nutritional status of the children
improved dramatically.

In one case, a 2-year old child was so malnourished she was
unable to walk. Just a few months after eating the porridge from
the fortified fermented maize dough, she was much stronger and
able to walk again.