DOST-FNRI 2021 Menu Guide Calendar: Perfect guide to complementary feeding and nutritious family meals
Undoubtedly, breastfeeding is still the best for babies because of its health and nutritional benefits. Among them are as follows:
- Breastmilk is the perfect food for newborns and infants because it provides all the nutrients that are needed for healthy development.
- Breastmilk is the safest food for babies.
- Breastmilk contains antibodies that help protect babies from common childhood illnesses like diarrhea, pneumonia, and malnutrition.
- It is readily available and affordable. This helps to ensure that babies get adequate sustenance at the time when they need it, even in emergency situations.
But at the age of six months, appropriate complementary foods should be timely introduced and be given while continuing breastfeeding for two years and beyond for optimum growth and development.
The 2021 Menu Guide Calendar of the Department of Science and Technology–Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) offers recipes for complementary feeding of infants and young children 6–23 months old to address this concern.
This guide calendar is a valuable tool to promote healthy diet and consumption behavior anchored on the child’s developmental milestones.
It features 12 nutritious recipes developed for the whole family, indicating the suitable serving size for 12–23-month-old young children.
The developed meal provides at least 250 kilocalories (kcal) with 5-12 grams (g) of protein using affordable and locally available ingredients.
Each meal meets part of the vitamin A, iron and other nutrient requirements of infants and is further enhanced by adding DOST-FNRI-developed Multi-nutrient Growth Mix (MGM) powder.
Aside from 12 nutritious recipes, the calendar also highlights the transition recipes for 6–8 months and 9–11-month-old babies.
Transition recipes are developed by modifying the number of ingredients, texture and suggested serving size.
Featured recipes in the calendar are intended for home-feeding of infants and young children.
Furthermore, these can be also used for supplementary feeding by following proper quantification.
Below are samples of two recipes featured in the 2021 Menu Guide Calendar that you can try.
