Millets for Little Ones: Child Feeding Practices and Nutritional Profile of Millet-Based Foods in Telangana, India

Ilene Maria Shaji¹Gomathi Ramaswamy^1*Mounika Reddy¹Chandralekha Kona¹Remya Mary John²Shreyas Patil¹Abhirami Renjith¹

• ¹All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bibinagar, Hyderabad, India
• ²All India Institute of Medical Sciences Mangalagiri, Mangalagiri, India

Background: Millets are nutrient-dense, climate-resilient grains with the potential to combat child malnutrition. There is limited data available on millet consumption among under-five children and the nutritional quality of millet-based ready-to-eat (RTE) and ready-to-cook (RTC) products available in the market, specifically for under-five children in India. Methods: The study methodology has two components: i) A cross-sectional study was conducted in Telangana, India, among 384 mother-child dyads attending a tertiary care hospital. Data on millet-related feeding practices were collected from the mothers through interviews. ii) Nutrient profiles and labelling details of millet-based RTE and RTC products were assessed by visiting supermarkets, bakeries, and online grocery markets in two districts of Telangana. Results: While 99% of mothers were aware of millets, only 60% included them in their child's diet at least for 2-3 days a week. Children who consumed millets showed significantly higher height, weight, and MUAC compared to non-millet-consumed children (p<0.05). Most millet-based RTE and RTC products met energy, protein and iron needs, but had low calcium content as per the estimated average requirement (EAR) for 100g of the food across age groups. The sodium content of the 20% RTC millet foods was sufficient to fulfill 75% of the recommended daily allowance of children aged 6 months to 6 years. All food product labels had information on ingredients, manufacturing, expiry dates, and lot/ batch numbers. However, there were lacunae in mentioning the additives/food colour, suitable age range for consumption, storage conditions and allergen information. 2 Conclusion: Mothers of under-five children in Telangana India have good knowledge of millets. However, 40% of them did not provide millet to the children regularly. The children who consumed millets had better anthropometric indicators compared to those who did not consume. There is a need to strengthen the food labelling practices on RTC and RTE millet-based foods.