Design of optimal food-based complementary feeding recommendations and identification of key "problem nutrients" using goal programming.

The WHO is urging countries to promote improved complementary feeding practices to ensure optimal health, growth, and development of young children. To help achieve this, a rigorous 4-phase approach for designing optimal population- specific food-based complementary feeding recommendations (CFRs) was developed and is illustrated here. In phase I, an optimized diet is selected, using goal programming (Model #1), which aims to provide a desired nutrient content with respect to habitual diet patterns and cost.