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This paper aims to investigate breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices among children less than five years old and living in a rice surplus area in Demak Regency, Central Java.

From December 2014 to February 2015, a cross-sectional survey was carried out in Demak, which had a high proportion of undernourished children despite high rice production. In total, 384 mothers having children below five years old from farmer family background were interviewed using a structured questionnaire about sociodemographic parameters and child feeding practices. Food habits were also investigated among these women during two focus group discussions in two selected sub-districts.

Only 10.9 per cent of the children were exclusively breastfed for six months. About 60 per cent of the mothers practiced supplementary feeding in addition to breastfeeding and started complementary feeding too early. Duration of exclusive breastfeeding practice and child’s age at onset of complementary feeding were positively correlated (p = 0.04). The main reasons of supplementary feeding and too early introduction of complementary food were based on the elderly women’s opinions, and the very short duration of maternity leave for employed mothers. Mothers with a low education level had a higher chance of not reaching the optimum score of complementary feeding practices (p = 0.012).

Despite a high level of food security in the project area, inadequate knowledge of young child feeding practices has contributed to sub-optimal breastfeeding practices. Higher educated women were more likely to follow optimal complementary feeding practices. Therefore, promotion of breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices targeting all key actors should be implemented in the study area to prevent undernutrition among infants.

The purpose of this paper is to examine food taboos/habits and dietary patterns of pregnant women in Kenya.

In all, 205 individual 24-h recall interviews were conducted face to face to collect information on pregnant women dietary intake. Women focus group discussions were conducted in seven villages in Kakamega County to determine which foods are avoided during pregnancy and the reasons for avoiding them.

The concept of “baby becoming big” was common advice to pregnant women to reduce intake of large amounts of starchy or high caloric foods. Restriction on the consumption of some parts of cow and chicken and consumption of eggs was widespread. Women with the highest education had significantly higher intake than women with lower education: energy (1,718 vs 1,436 kcal, p = 0.007), protein (45 vs 38 g, p = 0.03), vitamin C (59 vs 39 mg, p = 0.000), calcium (275 vs 222 mg, p = 0.04) and iron (8.5 vs 7.2 mg, p = 0.03). Multivariate binary logistic regression showed that participants with higher education were more likely to reach estimated average intake for energy (OR = 2.82, 95 per cent CI = 1.2-6.5) and vitamin C (OR = 4.1, 95 per cent CI = 1.5-11.0) than women with lower education level.

The observed link between reduced intake of nutrients and low education levels suggests that education is a possible intervention strategy. Incorporating nutrition education in school curriculum and improving knowledge on nutrition among women with low education may help overcome unhealthy food taboos in pregnant women.

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the acceptability of processed tempeh and the effect of stir-frying on uncooked tempeh composition, total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant (AO) activities and the phytic acid (PA) concentration.

Fermentation was performed in the solid-state using soybean (Glycine max) inoculated with Rhizopus oligosporus. The acceptability of tempeh was evaluated by administering a questionnaire. The TPC of uncooked and stir-fried tempeh was examined using Folin-Ciocalteu’s method, and PA was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. AO activities were measured by the thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) and ferric ion reducing/antioxidant power methods. The stir-fried tempeh was more acceptable than other preparations to the panelists.

In comparison with the uncooked tempeh, stir-fried tempeh showed higher fat composition, in addition to decreased levels of minerals, PA and TBARS.

Soy foods are an important source of protein. However, conventional cooking methods could change the chemical properties in soy foods. To avoid additional oil that adds calories, consumers might opt for other cooking methods, such as steaming.