Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education
Open Access

Abstract

There appears to be increasing evidence of the relationship between infant feeding practices and growth during infancy. Effective complementary feeding has demonstrated observable positive effect on linear growth of a child within the first 24 months of life. It appears that improved complementary feeding is directly proportional to linear growth of a child. Fortification of commonly used food vehicles provides opportunity for increasing nutrient intake during infancy and has potential to improve growth and development dimensions. This review scanned through 186 articles and adopted mini-systematic review through common search engines mainly PubMed, BioMed Central and google scholar. The result based on articles which met the minimum selection criteria identified milk, iodine, maize meal porridge and vegetable oils as recurring fortification vehicles in the context of complementary feeding. Significant impact of fortification on linear and cognitive growth was demonstrated across the included empirical studies. However, the review reflects outcomes that still do not demonstrate direct cause and effect relationships and rather implied meaning. Key Words: Food, Fortification, Child Growth, Development, Complementary feeding

Biography

David O. Okeyo is a Public Health Nutritionist and a Chief Executive Officer of Kenya Nutritionists and Dieticians Institute (KNDI) established by an Act of Parliament No. 18, 2007. David served as a head of department of nutrition and health at Maseno University for a period of two and a half years. He has published over 30 articles in peer review journals and books in the area of disease prevention, public health and nutrition sensitive areas, both as a first author and as co-author. He has presented a number of papers as orals and posters at International and National conferences.
Email:jandigwa@yahoo.co.uk