Abstract
A total of 880 questionnaires were completed and analysed to ascertain the perception of mothers as to the problems encountered by children consuming cowpeas. Over 90% of all mothers surveyed reported no problems attributable to the feeding of cowpeas. However, 9.9% (87) of the mothers reported that their children had problems after the consumption of cowpea foods.
Of all the mothers, 101 introduced cowpea foods for the first time at an age below six months, 470 between six and twelve months, 278 between one and two years, and 31 above two years. Of the 87 mothers reporting discomfort in their children, about 74.7 % (65) mentioned diarrhoea, 3.4% vomiting, 5.7% offensive stool, 1.2% abdominal pain, 6.9% bad breath, abdominal distension, and gas, and 1.2% both vomiting and diarrhoea. Only 18.4% of mothers of the affected children indicated that one or more of their children had stopped eating cowpeas. Problems with the consumption of cowpeas were reported to disappear later in life