Improvement of nutritional quality of local dishes and their acceptance by children of different ages

Abstract

Objective Food insecurity and child malnutrition are central topics in many food programs around the world; however, these indices do not diminish. The creation of strategies is necessary to increase the effectiveness of nutritional improvement programs. The objective of this research was to improve the nutritional quality of three local dishes included in the regular diet of the population by adding amaranth and to evaluate their acceptance by children from three communities in Tochimilco, Puebla, Mexico. Methods The study was carried out in three communities of “Tochimilco”, Puebla, Mexico, in order to evaluate three local dishes: banana smoothie, beans and corn tortillas, which were chosen by mothers of the region in participative workshops on preparation of local dishes enriched with amaranth. Two sensory tests were applied: paired-comparison and hedonic scale to 208 and 210 children of preschool and scholar age, respectively. Results It was found that consumers showed similar preference for banana smoothie and beans enriched with amaranth compared to non-enriched dishes; while the amaranth enriched tortilla gained more preference in the different statistical tests and it was the dish with higher content of amino acids. Sensory attributes were similarly assessed and there were no significant differences among rural and urban communities and school year. Conclusion Children easily accept the addition of amaranth to the dishes they are accustomed to, as it does not change their food culture. It is possible to improve child nutrition by designing healthier dishes and incorporating them into the daily cooking of those who prepare the food.

La educación alimentaria fomenta el consumo de amaranto para mejorar el estado de nutrición infantil

“…Desafortunadamente, algunos planteamientos son manifestaciones de la política alimentaria hegemónica, por lo cual traspasan la identidad y cultura de la población objetivo (Carrasco, 2006), además de que no son adoptadas por la gente ni sostenibles en el tiempo (De la Cruz, 2018). No obstante, hay algunas propuestas que manifiestan la importancia de la focalización de las estrategias en la cultura local (Calderón-Martínez et al, 2017), así como del aprovechamiento de los recursos locales, especialmente de los alimentos tradicionales (Chadare et al, 2018;Martínez et al, 2018;May y Ciocchini, 2018). Sin duda, si se desea modificar el panorama alimentario actual, este enfoque es el que debe marcar la planeación de estrategias para combatir la malnutrición; con la ayuda de herramientas como la educación alimentaria (De la Cruz, 2018) y el paisaje alimentario (Ponce, 2017) pueden obtenerse excelentes resultados.…”

“…El amaranto es un grano considerado tradicional en América Latina (May y Ciocchini, 2018) y bastante estudiado en los últimos años debido a las potencialidades nutricionales que posee (Gabriel et al, 2018;D'Amico y Schoenlechner, 2017). Este cultivo es objeto de diferentes investigaciones que lo proponen para aliviar la malnutrición e inseguridad alimentaria (Aderibigbe et al, 2022;Chadare et al, 2018;Martínez et al, 2018;May y Ciocchini, 2018;Martínez-Salvador, 2016), incluso hay evaluaciones favorables del efecto del consumo en menores de cinco años con desnutrición (López-Alonso et al, 2021;Vértiz-Cardona et al, 2019;Díaz, 1999).…”