Browsing by Author "Ntwenya, Julius"

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Adequacy of macro and micronutrients in infants and young children’s diets in Zanzibar, Tanzania
(African Health Sciences, 2019) Kinabo, Joyce; Mamiro, Peter; Mwanri, Akwilina; Bundala, Nyamizi; Kulwa, Kissa; Picado, Janeth; Ntwenya, Julius; Nombo, Aneth; Mzimbiri, Rehema; Ally, Fatma; Salmini, Asha; Juma, Abuu; Macha, Elizabeth; Cheung, Edith; Msuya, John
Background: A study was conducted in Zanzibar using ProPAN software to assess nutrient adequacy of foods given to infants and children aged 6-23 months old in Zanzibar. Methodology: The 24-hr dietary recall method embedded in ProPAN software was used to determine the adequacy of energy, protein, iron, calcium, zinc and vitamin A in foods consumed by children. Sample of 200 mothers/caretakers with children aged 6-23 months were interviewed. Results: Most frequent foods given to infants and children were tea, bread, white rice and fish. Key nutrients such as iron, zinc and vitamin A were below the recommended levels except for vitamin C from the diets consumed by children aged 11-23 months. Energy and protein were considered to be adequate as more than 90% of the children received enough of these nutri- ents. Mean age of introduction of complementary foods was four months. Conclusion: Children diets were limited in fruits and vegetables that caused micronutrients of nutritional importance such as iron, zinc and vitamin A to be supplied below recommended level. Equally, fat intake was below recommended level. Nutrition education on appropriate complementary foods should be given to caregivers. Promotion of consumption of diversified diets and locally available nutrient dense foods should be emphasized so as to achieve adequate intake of nutrients to infants and young children.
In-vitro bioavailability of selected minerals in dry and green shelled beans
(African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2016) Mamiro, Peter; Mwanri, Akwilina; Mamiro, Delphina; Nyagaya, Martha; Ntwenya, Julius
Mineral deficiency especially that of iron and zinc has continuously emerged as a public health issue in developing countries, probably due to the over dependence on plant food sources, which contain more than enough minerals to meet the daily requirement but have a low bioavailability for physiological purposes. Experiments on in-vitro bioavailability were carried out on dry and green shelled beans. Invitro bioavailability of iron and zinc in bean samples was determined by HCl-pepsin (HCl-P) and pepsinpancreatin (P-P) method. The amount of the proxy bioavailable minerals were obtained by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. In both minerals there was a small but significant (P=0.009) and (P=0.0003) increase in in-vitro bioavailability after cooking. The average increase for all the varieties was 3.2 to 3.4% for iron and 1.3 to 1.6% for zinc. The two minerals were more available in cooked green shelled beans compared to dry ones. The highest difference for iron bioavailability was observed in Maharagi soja (12.9%) while lowest was in TY 3396-12 (1.4%). The highest observed for zinc was 3% in G59/1-2. Vulnerable groups who suffer from iron and zinc deficiency should be encouraged to consume green shelled beans more often in comparison to dry beans to improve their mineral uptake.
Nutrient composition of complementary foods for children in Temeke district
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2009) Ntwenya, Julius
The provision of nutrient-dense complementary foods is essential to ensure an infant's nutrient requirements are met. Yet often, relative to recommendations, traditional complementary foods have low levels of nutrients, suggesting a need, for improvement to ensure dietary adequacy. In this study, nutrient composition of locally available dishes used as complementary foods for children aged 6-24 months was determined so as to provide suitable recommendations that will ensure sustainable improvement of the overall nutritional adequacy of complementary foods and well being of children in Tanzania. Data were collected from 100 interviewed caregivers using structured questionnaires and through laboratory analysis of 100 different complementary foods. Standard AOAC methods were used to determine nutrient composition. The findings show that, maize porridge (71%), composite flour porridge (55%) and mashed polatoes/mashed bananas (41%) are the main complementary foods prepared for young children in the study area. The proximate composition data showed that maize porridge provided energy of 282.59±59.54 Kcal/100g, composite flour porridge provided 319.13±61.31 Kcal/100g and mashed potato provided 243.50±53.56 Kcal/lOOg dry matter. The micronutrient composition data showed that the phosphorous, copper, iron and zinc content in mg/100g dry matter were 183.09±74.52, 0.37±0.12, 5.14±2.24, and 0.51±0.22 g for composite Hour porridge, and 164.00±l06.25, 0.32±0.13, 4.15±1.68 and 0.42±0.17 for mashed potato/mashed banana; whereas 59.33±42.21, 0.28±0.19, 2.65±1.56 and 0.27±0.16 were contained in maize flour porridge. A comparison on what the foods could provide and what is the recommended daily dietary requirements show that the amount of food consumed are inadequate to meet daily body needs. This is due to bulkness of the complementary foods. Furthermore, the nutrient composition data suggest that ensuring a nutritionally adequate complementary feeding diet based on traditional foods alone is difficult. It could therefore be inferred that mothers need a guidance to improve traditional foods through combinations with other foods available to them locally.