Indigenous weaning foods: Hygiene and diarrhoeal diseases in rural Ethiopian setting, Jimma Zone

Abstract

Abstract: A community based Microbiological study of Weaning Foods was conducted from Nov. 1994 to August 1995 in six Peasant Associations, in Jimma Zone, South West Ethiopia. The results of the study indicate that infants and children in the study community are ingesting highly contaminated foods. Fifty five percent of the weaning foods harbored bacterial counts over 2x106/ml of samples, and coliform bacteria were isolated from over 50% of these foods. The invariably high contamination of weaning foods was significantly associated with unsafe water supply, storage at ambient temperature for long time, unsatisfactory methods of cleaning feeding utensils. Poor domestic and personal hygiene observed in the households surveyed could provide ample opportunity for communication of fecal organisms to food and water either directly or indirectly. There was no statistically significant association between bacterial contamination of weaning foods and diarrhoeal episodes in children (P> 0.05). Educating the rural community, and improving over all hygienic conditions in the home environment is crucial for improving food hygiene and reduce the risk of diarrhoea from contaminated foods. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 1997;11(2):149-156]