Weaning foods in developing countries

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Abstract
This letter, by an advisor in family health to the World Health Organization, is a response to and a further characterization of the connection of nutrition and weaning foods in developing countries where malnutrition frequently results from inadequate breast milk after 4-6 months of age and inadequate and late introduction of semisolid foods. The letter writer cites studies which led to his conclusion that semisolids be introduced at about 4 months of age, so that breast milk plus semisolids would sustain an adequate weight gain, a process not seen when breast milk alone is continued beyond 4-6 months without further supplementation. The author is not advocating cessation of breast feeding simply because it no longer fails to provide all of the child's nutritional requirments, rather supplementation of diet is advocated. He ends his argument with a list of appropriate semisolid foods for dietary supplement, and points out that the problem of malnutrition among infants in developing countries is more a result of poor education than lack of a “weanling food factory.”

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