THE NUTRITION of the young child is critical to nation building and economic growth and, according to the World Health Organisation's (WHO's) Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding, "governments will be unsuccessful in their efforts to accelerate economic development in any significant long-term sense until optimal child growth and development, especially through appropriate feeding practices, are ensured".

It is frequently said that children are the future and they are the ones who will take care of us in the future. We, therefore, need to help them to do so effectively by investing in their health. Breast milk, the first food, is important to the infant's optimal growth and development. The evidence shows that a child who is exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life has a health and developmental advantage over the non-breastfed child. After the first six months of life, breast milk alone cannot continue to sustain optimal growth and development. So, in addition to breast milk, the infant will need complementary feeding.

Parents should prepare for the transition to complementary feeding as, according to WHO, 'complementary feeding practices are frequently ill timed, inappropriate and unsafe'. This is a period when many infants are given suboptimal nutrition and are placed at risk for inadequate calories and other important nutrients, especially the micronutrient iron.

Infants at this stage are dependent on fortified complementary foods for iron as they would have exhausted their own body stores.

Food safety

Food safety is also important. Hygiene is paramount as diseases, including diarrhoea, place the child at risk. Infants should be encouraged to consume complementary foods with clean fingers and other appropriate utensils but never bottles and nipples.

One aim of complementary feeding is to slowly increase age appropriate, caloric and nutrient dense foods to the infant, guided by their signal of appetite and satiety, as breastfeeding is slowly reduced up to the period of two years. Breastfeeding should provide approximately half the child's nutritional needs between six and 12 months and approximately one-third up to 24 months. Infants should be introduced eventually to a variety of wholesome family foods. It is advised that they be introduced to small amounts of food at first, one new food at a time. This is especially important to identify allergenic foods and to allow the infant to appreciate the taste and other qualities of a new food.

Complementary food ideas

Thick cereal porridge (pop) that must be eaten with a spoon.

Crushed staple food such as green bananas; fat such as gravy/butter can be added.

Meats cooked and grounded should be incorporated into meals.

Crushed fruits. Avoid juices which fills up a small stomach but are not nutrient-dense.

Avoid highly spiced foods and those that can cause choking in their whole state.

After new foods are established to be safe, combinations can be made, for example, crushed banana and pumpkin with grounded chicken liver and gravy. Nutrition is important throughout the life cycle. Let us take care of our children so they will take care of us.

Rosalee M. Brown is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who operates Integrated Nutrition and Health Services; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.