Impact of Food Fortification on Child Growth and Development during Complementary Feeding

Abstract

There appears to be increasing evidence of the relationship between infant feeding practices and growth during infancy. Effective complementary feeding has demonstrated an observable positive effect on the linear growth of a child within the first 24 months of life. It appears that improved complementary feeding is directly proportional to the linear growth of a child. Fortification of commonly used food vehicles provides an opportunity for increasing nutrient intake during infancy and has the potential to improve growth and development dimensions. This review scanned through 186 articles from common search engines, mainly PubMed, BioMed Central, and Google Scholar. The result based on a systematic review of articles which met the minimum selection criteria identified milk, iodine, maize meal porridge, and vegetable oils as recurring fortification vehicles in the context of complementary feeding. A significant impact of fortification on linear and cognitive growth was demonstrated recurrently across the included empirical studies. However, the review reflects outcomes that still do not demonstrate direct cause and effect relationships but rather implied meaning in the relationship matrix.

Keywords: Child growth; Complementary feeding; Development; Food; Fortification.