%0 Journal Article
%T Complementary Food Situation in Sierra Leone: Nutritional Problems and Possible Strategies¡ªA Review
%A Philip John Kanu
%J Food and Nutrition Sciences
%P 113-128
%@ 2157-9458
%D 2024
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/fns.2024.152006
%X Low nutrient density and bulkiness of
complementary foods, early introduction of solid foods, and unhygienic
practices during weaning stage of a child pre<span>dispose
infants to malnutrition, growth retardation, infection and high</span> mortality. In most West African countries, especially in Sierra Leone, the use
of a variety of home-made complementary foods prepared from locally grown
foodstuffs during the weaning process is popular, with products traditionally
kn<span>own as <i>pap</i> (<i>mesh</i> <i>rice</i> <i>water</i>) <i>fofo</i> <i>from</i> <i>cassava</i>, <i>ogi</i>, <i>gari</i>, <i>akamu</i> <i>an</i></span><i>d</i> <i>couscous</i>. Sierra Leone is one of the countries
in West Africa that has been rep<span>orted to
have a challenging situation with regards to complemen</span>tary foods, <span><span><span style=\"font-family:;\" \"=\"\">and </span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:;\" \"=\"\">little effort has so far been done to improve
the situation. Despite these challen<span>ges,
very little work has been directed towards the development of</span> complementary foods using local foodstuffs as practiced in some o<span>ther</span> African co<span>untries. This situation has serious impact on the lives of infant</span>s
in Sierra Leone, thus increasing the rate of mortality in the country.
Complementary food situation in Sierra Leone was reviewed in terms of the past
and present practices as well as the types of complementary foods used in
Sierra Leone. Thus, the objective of this review was to discuss the c</span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:;\" \"=\"\">omplementary food situation in Sierra Leone: Nutritional problems and
possible strategies. <span>Formulation of
high nutritive value home-made complementary foods in the country was
recommended using traditional food processing techniques such as fermentation
and germination, since these methods are simple, and could easily be employed
at household and community levels without the use of sophisticated machinery.
Nonetheless, it was recently reported that a product from the orange-flesh
sweet potato could address the issue of complementary food in the country</span> <a name=\"_Hlk156201613\"></a><span>as it is easy
to prepare, and the products are easily available in the rural area and even
urban settings. </span><span>Other
recommendations made include: community nutrition education, the development of
weaning recipe boo<span>k, reduction in the
workload of the suckling mother, promotion of </span>breastfeeding and
increased maternity leave period,
%K Complementary Food
%K Pap
%K Malnutrition
%K Growth Retardation
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=131223