Feeding the weanling in the developing world: problems and solutions

More than half of the developing world's children are undernourished, many with retardation of growth and development. Malnutrition begins in infancy, during the transition from breast feeding to solid diet, frequently in association with diarrhoeal disease. Traditional weaning foods are often of low energy density and protein content, and susceptible to contamination with enteropathogenic bacteria. However improvements in the composition of weaning foods must be accompanied by programmes to prevent and treat diarrhoeal disease, if childhood malnutrition in the developing world is to be eliminated.