Passage 3
Fermented Foods for Babies　　Malnutrition during weaning age-when breast milk is being replaced by semi-solid foods-is highly prevalent in children of poor households in many developing countries. While the etiology is complex and multifactorial, the immediate causes are recognized as feeding at less than adequate levels for children’s growth and development, and recurrent infections, including diarrhea, resulting mainly from ingestion of contaminated foods. As a result, many young children, particularly between six months to two years of age, experience weight loss and impaired growth and development.
　　Studies by investigators in various countries have concentrated on traditional food preparation methods and have resulted in offering cheap and practical answers to these problems based on familiar, indigenous and culturally acceptable home processing practices.
　　Two such answers have arisen. Firstly, cereal fermentation is used for reducing the risk of contamination under the existing inappropriate conditions for food preparation and storage in many households. Secondly, a tiny amount of sprouted grains flour is used in preparation of weaning foods as a magic way to lessen the viscosity without decreasing energy density.
　　A method to eliminate pathogenic bacteria and inhibit their growth during storage of weaning preparations can benefit nutrition and health in young children considerably. Use of fermented foods for feeding children of weaning age appears to be an effective solution. Fermented foods have lower levels of diarrhoeal germ contamination, they are suitable for child feeding, and can be safely stored for much longer periods of time than fresh foods.
　　The practice has been a traditional way of food preservation in many parts of the world. The anti-microbial properties of fermented foods and their relative higher safety-documented since the early 1900’s-have been in