Acceptability of an Indigenous Therapeutic Food in Children with Severe Wasting in Karnataka, India

Abstract

To reduce the burden of severe wasting, an energy- and nutrient-dense food similar in nutrient composition to F-100 is essential to ensure catch-up growth. A culturally acceptable, therapeutic food prepared with adequate shelf life is desirable. This study aimed to evaluate the acceptability of three flavours of a food product in severely malnourished children aged 6 to 59 months. The primary outcomes measured included the amount consumed in 15 minutes and time taken until the child stopped eating and secondary outcome, the mother’s sensory rating on appearance, aroma, flavour, and consistency and perception on the child’s liking of the food product. Acceptability was defined as the consumption of 60% of the quantity of food calculated at 150 kcal/kg/day. Mother’s sensory evaluation and her perception of child’s liking for the product were recorded on a 5-point hedonic scale. At 15 minutes and at end of observation, 78.6% and 94.3% of regular, 68.6% and 81.4% of cardamom, 63.0% and 80.8% of apple-cardamom flavours of the food product were consumed respectively. Time taken for completion of the product was 27.5±14.3, 27.5±12.1 and 27.0±15.3 minutes for regular, cardamom and apple-cardamom flavours. The sensory rating by mothers and their perception of the child’s liking was around 4 to 5 (“like it a little” to “like it a lot”) for the various parameters. The designed food was thus, found to be acceptable. Further plans are to evaluate the effectiveness of the food product in promoting weight gain in severely wasted children.