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Developing food‐based recommendations to complement distribution of a meat‐based fortified food product for school‐aged children from rural Quetzaltenango, Guatemala using the Optifood linear programming tool
Author(s) -
Vossenaar Marieke,
Escobar Marta Lucía,
Bonorden Melissa J. L.,
Solomons Noel W
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.891.11
Subject(s) - nutrient , context (archaeology) , fortified food , food science , dietary reference intake , environmental health , product (mathematics) , malnutrition , food group , medicine , fortification , agricultural science , microbiology and biotechnology , mathematics , geography , biology , geometry , pathology , ecology , archaeology
Background Current diets of school‐aged children in Guatemala are nutritionally inadequate. Spammy®, a meat‐based fortified food product was developed to complement the local diet. Objective To develop food‐based recommendations (FBRs) using linear programming for children from a low socio‐economic, rural area in the department of Quetzaltenango according to habitual dietary practices and the local food supply, and to examine the effect of this modeling with the addition of Spammy® given as food aid. Methods 24‐h dietary recall data for 100 school‐aged children were used to derive linear programing inputs, including foods consumed, their portion sizes and frequency of intake. Optifood was used to develop FBRs based on existing dietary patterns using locally available and acceptable foods, and with the addition of Spammy®. The cost of the most affordable and nutritionally best diet was also modeled. Results A total of 5 food‐based recommendations (promoting dairy, fortified grains, eggs, meat/poultry and fruit consumption) can help achieve nutrient adequacy for 7 of 12 nutrients examined. With the additional of a daily portion of Spammy®, 4 food‐based recommendations (promoting dairy, fortified grains, eggs, and tortillas) can help achieve nutrient adequacy for 10 of 12 nutrients examined and the daily cost of the most affordable and nutritionally best diet is reduced from $2.23 to 1.75 (USD). Conclusion Context‐specific FBRs could ensure adequate levels of most nutrients examined. Used alone, however, the proposed FBRs are unlikely to contribute sufficiently to calcium, vitamins C and D, iron and zinc intakes. With the addition of Spammy®, more nutrient requirements are met, but calcium and iron intakes remain problematic. Support or Funding Information Hormel Foods Corporation, Austin, USA