scholarly journals Tracking of infant and young child feeding practices among 9- to 24-month-old children in Nepal: the MAL-ED Birth Cohort Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne S Morseth ◽  
Liv Elin Torheim ◽  
Mekdes K Gebremariam ◽  
Ram K Chandyo ◽  
Manjeswori Ulak ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectiveThe present study aimed to assess infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices and the tracking of dietary diversity score (DDS), intakes of Fe- and vitamin A-rich foods and meal frequency in a peri-urban area in Nepal. Furthermore, to explore whether sociodemographic factors were associated with tracking patterns of these IYCF practices.DesignLongitudinal study. Monthly food intake was measured by 24 h recall. Four time slots were used (9–12, 13–16, 17–20 and 21–24 months). Tracking of IYCF practices was investigated using generalized estimating equations (GEE) models and Cohen’s weighted kappa. Multinominal logistic regression was used to identify determinants for tracking of the IYCF practices.SettingBhaktapur municipality, Nepal.SubjectsChildren (n 229) aged 9–24 months, randomly selected.ResultsPrevalence of minimum meal frequency was higher than for minimum dietary diversity at all time slots. Tracking based on absolute measures (GEE models) was moderate for DDS (0·48) and meal frequency (0·53), and low for intakes of Fe- (0·23) and vitamin A-rich (0·35) foods. Tracking based on rank measured was moderate for DDS and meal frequency, and fair for Fe- and vitamin A-rich foods. Low socio-economic status significantly increased the odds (OR; 95 % CI) of tracking of low v. high DDS (3·31; 1·44, 7·60) and meal frequency (3·46; 1·54, 7·76).ConclusionsLow tracking for intakes of Fe- and vitamin A-rich foods implies that interventions to improve these IYCF practices must address underlying causes for irregular intake to have sustainable effects.

Author(s):  
Arulprasad Radjasegarane ◽  
Anandaraj Rajagopal ◽  
Prakash Mathiyalagen ◽  
Kavita Vasudevan

Background: Optimal infant and young child feeding practices (IYCF) are essential to address the increasing burden of malnutrition and for the overall development of the children. The present study was conducted to estimate the proportion of optimal infant and young child feeding practices among rural children aged 0 to 23 months and study the associated socio demographic factors.Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 360 children in the age group of 0 to 23 months in a rural field practice area of a medical college in Puducherry. Data on IYCF practices were collected using a standardized tool developed by WHO. Core and optional IYCF indicators were calculated. Chi-square test and Fishers’ exact test were used as tests of significance.Results: Almost 88.0% of infants were initiated early on breastfeeding and 90.8% were exclusively breastfed for six months. Children who were continuously breastfed at one year and two years were 77.4% and 22.4% respectively. About 75.0% were introduced with solid or semisolid foods at 6 to 8 months of age. Among children aged 6 to 23 months, 77.3% had the recommended minimum dietary diversity, 81.3% had the minimum meal frequencies, while 57.7% received the minimum acceptable diet and only 39.4% consumed iron rich foods. Gender was significantly associated with the practice of continued breastfeeding at one year, adequate minimum dietary diversity and minimum meal frequency.Conclusions: The core and optional IYCF indicators were acceptably good in the initial six months of life but thereafter showed suboptimal levels, which should be emphasized among the mothers or primary care givers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (04) ◽  
pp. 17834-17853
Author(s):  
Edward Kansiime ◽  
◽  
MK Kabahenda ◽  
E Bonsi ◽  
◽  
...  

Despite improvements in food production and healthcare services, the burden of malnutrition in Uganda has for the last 30yearsremained unacceptably high with rates of stunting (chronic undernutrition) and anemia (proxy for micronutrient deficiency) currently estimated at 29% and 53%,respectively among young children aged 6-59 months. Considering that both undernutrition and over nutrition are greatly attributed to monotonous diets characterized by limited dietary diversity and overdependence on starchy refined grains or roots as staples,there is need to improve the population’s awareness of appropriate dietary practices. To improve nutrition education, the Infant and Young Child-feeding national counseling cards for community volunteers (IYCF cards)that were developed by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), are currently the standard package used in Uganda’s health sector to educate caregivers on appropriate child-feeding practices. In this study, the effectiveness of a three-group food guide was evaluated against IYCF cards.A randomized, controlled intervention trial engaged three randomly selected distant groups of child-caregiver pairs (n=40) concurrently in one of three treatments namely: (i) nutrition education using a three-foodgroup guide (FG), (ii) nutrition education using age-appropriate IYCF cards, and (iii) negative control group that engaged in hair-plaiting sessions. At baseline, all groups had randomly selected caregivers of children aged 6-14 months and were met once a week for five consecutive weeks during the intervention. Caregivers were interviewed at baseline and 2 months after the interventions to determine changes in child-feeding practices while their children were concurrently measured to determine changes in their nutritional status.At baseline, caregivers in the three treatment arms exhibited inappropriate child-feeding practices indicated by low child-feeding index (CFI) scores,which were also related to poor nutritional status of their children. After the interventions, children in FG group were given more varied animal-source foods than those in IYCF cards group (p =0.02). Compared to controls, caregivers in FG group gave their children significantly more snacks (p = 0.01), their child-feeding practices indicated by CFI scores significantly improved (p = 0.001) and their children exhibited better growth patterns indicated by weight-for-age (p = 0.02) and MUAC-for-age (p = 0.03) Z-scores.These findings,therefore,indicate that the three-group food guide is more likely to improve child-feeding practices and growth patterns than IYCF cards.Hence, there is need to integrate the food guide into IYCF materials to foster child-feeding practices and growth.


2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-97
Author(s):  
Banani Chakraborty ◽  
Jubaida Rumana ◽  
Hosne Ara Begum ◽  
Afsana Afroz

Background: Proper feeding practices during the first two years of life is essential for growth nutrition and development of young children. Optimum infant and young child feeding can reduce childhood mortality and morbidity significantly. Present study was done to know the infant and young child feeding pattern in the children of 0-23 months of age attending out patient department of an urban hospital.Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted among 314 mother/child pair attending the outpatient department of an urban hospital during the period of September 2014 to December 2014.Result: 68.5% children had early initiation of breast feeding and exclusive breast feeding among children below 6 months was 66.8%.Continued breast feeding among the children of 12 to 15 months was 80.4% and 84.2 % children were given solid food at 6 months of age. Adequate minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency and minimal acceptable diet among children 6-23 months were 61.4%,57.3% and 39.4% respectively.64.5%% children were taking iron rich food or supplementation.Conclusion: Early initiation of breast feeding(0-23mo) and Exclusive breastfeeding(0- 6mo) were satisfactory in the study children but IYCF practice in children of 6-23 months was not optimum and far away from the HPNSDP 2011-2016 target of 52% of children to be fed with minimum acceptable diet.Bangladesh J Child Health 2016; VOL 40 (2) :92-97


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e023238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samson Gebremedhin

ObjectiveThe objective of the study is to determine the status of infant and young child feeding (IYCF) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) based on multiple indicators.DesignSecondary data analysis of 32 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in SSA since 2010.SettingThirty-two countries in SSA.Participants151 575 infants and young children born in the preceding 2 years of the surveys.Indicators determinedEight core and six optional IYCF indicators.ResultsMajority (95.8%) of the children born in the preceding 24 months were ever breastfed, and 50.5% initiated breastfeeding within the first hour of birth. Among infants 0–5 months of age, 72.3% were predominantly breastfed and 41.0% were exclusively breastfed. Continued breastfeeding at 1 year (89.5%) was reasonably high, but only 53.7% continued breastfeeding at 2 years and 60.4% had age-appropriate breastfeeding. About two-thirds (69.3%) of infants 6–8 months of age received solid, semisolid or soft food over the previous day across the countries. Among children 6–23 months of age, 41.9% met the minimum recommended meal frequency, while smaller proportions satisfied the minimum dietary diversity (21.0%) and acceptable diet (9.8%). About one-third (37.6%) of children 6–23 months of age consumed iron-rich or iron-fortified food over the previous day. Among non-breastfed children, only 15.0% received the recommended two or more milk feedings. Thirteen per cent were fed with a bottle with a nipple in the previous day. Country-level estimates for most indicators showed remarkable variations. Yet the minimum dietary diversity and acceptable diet indicators were consistently low.ConclusionMost breastfeeding-related indicators, except exclusive and early initiation of breastfeeding, are in an acceptable level in SSA. However, complementary feeding indicators are generally low.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunny Kim ◽  
Phuong Nguyen ◽  
Lan Tran ◽  
Silvia Alayon ◽  
Purnima Menon ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives In the context of large-scale interventions to improve infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices, we examined differences in characteristics of those exposed and not exposed to interventions; exposure to interpersonal communication (IPC), including overlap with other interventions and timing and number of contacts; and relationship between frequency of IPC contacts and IYCF practices. Methods We used endline survey data from Bangladesh (2000 mothers with children <2y, 1000 per program group), Ethiopia (1720 mother with children aged 6–23.9 mo, 1360 per group), and Vietnam (2005 mothers with children <2y, 1000 per group). Regression models were used to test differences in exposure to specific or combined interventions between two arms and relationships between the frequency of IPC contacts or exposure to interventions and IYCF practices, adjusted for child age and sex and geographic clustering. Results Those exposed to interventions had higher socioeconomic status, food security, and maternal dietary diversity. There was large overlap in exposure to IPC with other interventions in intensive-intervention areas in all 3 countries. On average, mothers received 8 visits in the last 6 mo, 2 visits in the last 3 mo, and 1 visit in the last 6 mo in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Vietnam respectively. In Bangladesh, there was a positive, nonsignificant association between intervention exposure and IYCF practices in intensive areas. In Ethiopia, exposure to IPC with other interventions was associated with higher odds of minimum meal frequency (OR: 1.6), minimum dietary diversity (OR: 1.8), and consumption of iron-rich foods (OR: 4.7). In Vietnam, exposure to IPC alone or with mass media was associated with 3.7 and 2.8 higher odds respectively of exclusive breastfeeding. At least monthly visits was associated with higher odds of IYCF practices in Bangladesh and Ethiopia. In Vietnam, any number of IPC visits was associated with 2 times higher odds of exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusions Effects of combined behavior-change interventions and frequency of IPC contacts may be context-specific. Funding Sources Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through Alive & Thrive, managed by FHI 360; and CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), led by the International Food Policy Research Institute.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bridget A Aidam ◽  
Carolyn A MacDonald ◽  
Rebecca Wee ◽  
Joseph Simba ◽  
Judi Aubel ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Background Suboptimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices contribute to child undernutrition. Sierra Leone Demographic and Health Survey data show that IYCF practices remain poor despite modest improvements. Recent studies have identified the role of grandmothers as critical to child nutrition; however, in Sierra Leone to date, the potential for grandmothers to influence IYCF practices has not been investigated. Objectives We examined how an innovative grandmother-inclusive approach (GMIA) can be used to address suboptimal IYCF practices. Methods Using a quasi-experimental design, we compared IYCF beliefs and practices between GMIA intervention communities (receiving monthly dialogue sessions on nutrition, quarterly community praise sessions, and intergenerational forums) and comparison communities (receiving standard nutrition education) in Bum chiefdom from 2013 and 2016. The quantitative endline survey targeted 101 pregnant women, 291 women with children aged &lt;2 y, and 219 grandmothers. Statistical analyses utilized t tests and χ2 tests to examine differences between intervention and comparison communities at endline. Multivariate regression was used to determine the intervention's effect on IYCF outcomes of interest. Results Awareness of and participation in the GMIA was high among mothers and grandmothers in intervention communities. The percentage of infants and young children aged 0–23 mo (n = 291) exclusively breastfed during the first week of life was significantly higher in the intervention group (90.2% compared with 79.4%, P = 0.01). Among infants aged 6–23 mo (n = 219), the percentage achieving minimum dietary diversity and minimum acceptable diet was significantly higher in the intervention group (77.2% compared with 51.8%, P &lt; 0.001; and 53.8% compared with 22.6%, P &lt; 0.001, respectively). Differences in percentages achieving minimum meal frequency (MMF) were only significant for infants aged 9–23 mo, with the intervention group achieving a higher MMF (54.6% compared with 36.9%, P = 0.02). Conclusions Results suggest that a GMIA that recognizes grandmothers’ roles and strengthens their knowledge can contribute to improved IYCF practices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 150 (11) ◽  
pp. 3024-3032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parul Christian ◽  
Kristen M Hurley ◽  
John Phuka ◽  
Yunhee Kang ◽  
Julie Ruel-Bergeron ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Background The prevalence of stunting in central rural Malawi is ∼50%, which prompted a multipronged nutrition program in 1 district from 2014 to 2016. The program distributed a daily, fortified, small-quantity lipid-based nutritional supplement, providing 110 kcal and 2.6 g of protein to children aged 6–23 mo, and behavior change messages around optimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) and water, sanitation, and hygiene. Objectives Our objective was to perform an impact evaluation of the program using a neighboring district as comparison. Methods Using a quasi-experimental study design, with cross-sectional baseline (January–March, 2014; n = 2404) and endline (January–March, 2017; n = 2453) surveys, we evaluated the program's impact using a neighboring district as comparison. Impact on stunting was estimated using propensity score weighted difference-in-differences regression analyses to account for baseline differences between districts. Results No differences in mean length-for-age z-score or prevalence of stunting were found at endline. However, mean weight, weight-for-length z-score, and mid-upper arm circumference were higher at endline by 150 g, 0.22, and 0.19 cm, respectively, in the program compared with the comparison district (all P &lt; 0.05). Weekly reports of high fever and malaria were also lower by 6.4 and 4.7 percentage points, respectively, in the program compared with the comparison district (both P &lt; 0.05). There was no impact on anemia. Children's dietary diversity score improved by 0.17, and caregivers’ infant and young child feeding and hand-washing practices improved by 8–11% in the program compared with the comparison district (all P &lt; 0.05). Conclusions An impact evaluation of a comprehensive nutrition program in rural Malawi demonstrated benefit for child ponderal growth and health, improved maternal IYCF and hand-washing practices, but a reduction in stunting prevalence was not observed.


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