Infant and Young child feeding practice and associated factors among 0-23 months of children in irrigated and non-irrigated area of Dangila district, North West of Ethiopia

Background Infant and young child feeding practice is a cornerstone of care for child development mentally and growth physically. Failure to proper infant and young child feeding practice is associated with increased risk of childhood morbidity and mortality. Objective To assess the prevalence of infant and young child feeding practice among 0-23 months of age children in irrigated and non-irrigated area of Dangila Woreda, North-west Ethiopia, 2021. Methods Community based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted from Dec 1, 2020 to Jun 1, 2021 with a total of 823 mothers who have infant and young children 0-23monthes of age in 9 selected Keebles were included in the study. Stratified sampling technic was implemented to select irrigated and non- irrigated kebeles and study units. Data was collected by face to face interview method. bivariate and multivariate analysis were used, variables with p<0.05, was taken as statistically significant and independently associated with infant and young child feeding practice. Adjusted odds ratio along with 95% confidence interval was used to assess the strength of the association. Result Among 823 households visited, 802 participants gave complete responses with response rate of 97.4%. The overall prevalence infant and young child feeding practice was 62.5%, of these 72.8%(95%CI: 67.5%, 76.1%)from irrigated and 52.2%(95%CI: 47.8%, 57.4%), from non-irrigated area had good practice of IYCF. Moreover, the study identified that ANC (AOR= 2.138, 95% CI: 1.085, 4.210), knowledge (AOR= 2.43, 95% CI: 0.275, 0.612), attitude (AOR= 1.687, 95% CI: 1.129, 2.520), PNC (AOR= 1.606, 95% CI: 1.154, 2.360) and women’s decision making (AOR= 1.941, 95% CI: 1.305, 2.888) were significant predictor for IYCF among 0-23months of age children. Conclusion The overall prevalence of infant and young child feeding practice was (62.5%) in the study area and had shown significant variation between irrigated and non-irrigated area. Infant and young child feeding practice is high as compared previous study. Women’s decision making, ANC follow up, PNC follow up, attitude and knowledge were identified as the intervention areas..

Healthcare Providers in Africa Face HIV and AIDS Challenges in Providing Services to a Key Population: Infant and Young Child Feeding

There is agreement on the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and the introduction of appropriate complementary foods at 6 months, followed by continued breastfeeding, for all infants. However, infant, and young child feeding (IYCF) guidelines for HIV-positive mothers have changed on a regular basis since 2000. Considering new HIV treatment guidelines, implementation challenges, and knowledge gaps, this article investigates issues and Evidence related to IYCF for the prevention and care of paediatric HIV in resource-limited settings. The effectiveness of antiretroviral medications (ARVs) in decreasing the incidence of HIV transmission from mother to child prompted WHO to urge countries to support either avoidance or treatment. Significant progress has been made in terms of preserving the lives of moms but also decreasing the spread of HIV among children, but long-term political, financial, and scientific commitment is essential for ensuring effective postnatal HIV prevention programs and providing for the nutritional requirements of HIV-exposed and HIV-infected infants.

Review of the Nutrition Situation in Jordan: Trends and Way Forward

Jordan is witnessing an escalating pace of nutrition transition, which may be associated with an increased burden of malnutrition and related non-communicable diseases. This review analyzes the nutrition situation in Jordan by exploring specific nutrition indicators, namely infant and young child feeding, low birthweight, micronutrient deficiencies, anthropometric indicators, and food consumption patterns. Results showed that although most children were ever breastfed and early initiation of breastfeeding had a two-fold increasing trend, rates of exclusive breastfeeding below 6 months of age and continued breastfeeding until two years of age were low. Complementary feeding indicators, particularly minimum diet diversity and minimum acceptable diet standards, were suboptimal. An overall low burden of stunting, wasting, and underweight among children under 5 years and remarkable progress in optimizing iodine status among school-aged children were reported. Conversely, the burden of low birthweight and overweight/obesity exacerbated, coexisting with anemia, vitamin A deficiency, and vitamin D deficiency. Overall, fruit and vegetable consumption were inadequate. The consumption of soft drinks and salt on the other hand was higher than recommended. This review acknowledges the double burden of malnutrition in Jordan and recommends the prioritization and evaluation of interventions towards improving the population’s nutritional status and achieving nutrition targets.

The theory of planned behaviour in exploring dietary diversity practices among mothers in informal settlements in Kenya

One of the leading causes of malnutrition, which contributes to morbidity and mortality in children, is lack of dietary diversity. Despite remarkable improvement in exclusive breastfeeding in Kenya, there are still poor dietary diversity practices among children aged 6-24 months. Limited studies have applied the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to examine the factors that influence dietary diversity practices in informal settlements in Kenya. The objective of this qualitative study was to explore behavioral, normative, control beliefs, intention, and dietary diversity practices, based on the TPB. The study sites were Kibera in Nairobi, Manyatta A in Kisumu, and Kaptembwo in Nakuru. Participants were 64 mothers of children aged 6-24 months selected using purposive sampling. Nine focus groups, each comprising of 5-10 mothers were conducted and the data analyzed using thematic analysis. Using a focus group guide, based on the TPB, mothers described salient beliefs regarding their attitude, subjective norms and perceived control of dietary diversity. Analysis of the data showed that some mothers had intended to introduce solid foods at six months. However, barriers such as mother not feeding well, baby’s hunger, perceived insufficient breast milk production, and return to work led to earlier introduction of foods. Most mothers indicated their intention to give a variety of foods to their children but were hindered by barriers such as poverty/inadequate money, non-availability of food at home, and inadequate knowledge about complementary feeding. Friends, health professionals, fathers, neighbours and friends were cited as most salient referents that influenced the dietary diversity practices. The most frequently provided starchy foods were chappatis, mandazis, potatoes, rice, weetabix, porridge, and ugali. In conclusion, the results indicate that mothers had positive attitude towards dietary diversity. The ‘significant others’ who mostly influenced dietary diversity practices were health professionals, fathers, and friends. Future interventions need to target mothers' perceived child-feeding responsibilities, influence subjective norms, and increase parents' perceived control over child feeding.

Engaging New Parents in the Development of a Peer Nutrition Education Model Using Participatory Action Research

This study investigated the implementation model and research methods of a peer education program for new parents focused on infant feeding and nutrition. Two hundred and sixty-nine parents with an infant aged birth to two years old were invited to become co-researchers in a Participatory Action Research (PAR) study over three years. Data included focus group and online participant meeting transcripts, social media data, correspondence between the implementation team and peer educators, and field notes. All data were consolidated regularly and discussed by project participants and the research team. After each PAR cycle, structured content analysis was conducted, informing the next iteration of the implementation model and research methods. Participating parents were highly engaged in child feeding peer-to-peer education, but felt more effective and comfortable being considered as a child-feeding information resource sharer or ‘champion’ rather than a formal peer educator. Similarly, quantitative data collection was only effective when it was integrated seamlessly into the implementation model. PAR methodology suited the diversity and dynamic real-life study setting, facilitating substantial improvements to the peer nutrition intervention model and data collection methods. Our study demonstrated that a genuine collaboration between health professionals and participants to implement research in practice can achieve both intervention outcomes and research aims.

Counselor’s Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) Counselling

Background: Efforts to reduce the prevalence of undernutrition can be done with the proper IYCF practices. IYCF promotion and counseling activities for caregivers can increase the success of IYCF implementation and reduce the prevalence of malnutrition.Objectives: The objective of this study is to determine the association between the level of education, knowledge, and behavior of Posyandu counselors on IYCF practice in the Parongpong District of West Bandung Regency.Materials and Methods: This research is a cross-sectional study with a consecutive sampling technique. Descriptive analysis was conducted to describe the characteristics of the respondents, and the multivariate test was used to determine the variables meets the model equation.Results: Multivariable analysis showed that the variables that were significantly related to the practice of IYCF counseling were the level of education, knowledge, and behavior which were controlled by the confounding variable for the period of being a counselor.Conclusion: The level of education, knowledge, and behavior of Posyandu counselors in IYCF counseling practice is an important factor that can support the improvement of children's nutritional status.

Trends and predictors of early initiation, exclusive, and continued breastfeeding in Bangladesh (2004-2018): a multilevel analysis of Demographic and Health Survey data

The early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) within one hour of birth, exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) to 6 months, and continued breastfeeding (CBF) to 2 years are key infant and young child feeding guidelines promoted globally for optimal child health and development. Using publicly available national survey data from the five most recent, consecutive Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (2004, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2017-18), we assessed the trends in these key breastfeeding indicators. Multiple multilevel logistic regression models were built to assess sociodemographic predictors of breastfeeding using the latest 2017-18 dataset. Both EIBF and EBF have increased significantly between 2004 and 2017-18, from 26% to 60% and 36% to 68%, respectively and CBF decreased from 94% to 85%. Caesarean section delivery conferred lower EIBF practice (OR= 0.34, 95% CI: 0.27 to 0.42) compared to vaginal delivery. Women who were currently working had 32% lower odds of EBF (OR= 0.68, 95% CI: 0.48 to 0.95). Compared to delivery at home, women who delivered in a health facility had 81% higher odds of EBF (OR= 1.81, 95% CI: 1.25 to 2.34). Larger family size (≥5) also predicted EBF (OR= 1.70, 95% CI: 1.21 to 2.40). Rural residency was associated with 2.39 (95% CI 1.32 to 4.31) times of higher odds of CBF. Administrative region (division) was also predictive of the various breastfeeding indicators. Although Bangladesh currently exceeds the 2019 global prevalence rates for these three breastfeeding indicators, efforts should be made to continue improving EIBF and EBF, and to prevent future decreases in CBF.

Influence of agriculture on child nutrition through child feeding practices in India: A district-level analysis

Malnutrition continues to be a primary concern for researchers and policymakers in India. There is limited scientific research on the effect of agriculture on child nutrition in the country using a large representative sample. To the best of our knowledge, no study has examined the spatial clustering of child malnutrition and its linkage with agricultural production at the district-level in the country. The present study aims to examine agricultural production’s role in improving the nutritional status of Indian children through child feeding practices. The nutritional indicators of children from the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015–16) and the agricultural production data for all the 640 districts of India obtained from the District-Wise Crop Production Statistics (2015–16), published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India were used for the analysis. The statistical analysis was undertaken in STATA (version 14.1). ArcMap (version 10.3), and GeoDa (version 1.8) were used for the spatial analysis. The study found a higher prevalence of malnutrition among children who had not received Minimum Meal Frequency (MMF), Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD), and Minimum Acceptable Diet (MAD). Further, child feeding practices- MMF, MDD, and MAD- were positively associated with high yield rates of spices and cereals. The yield rate of cash crops, on the contrary, harmed child feeding practices. Production of pulses had a significant positive effect on MDD and MAD. Districts with high cereal yield rates ensured that children receive MMF and MAD. There is a significant spatial association between child feeding practices and malnutrition across Indian districts. The study suggests that adopting nutrient-sensitive agriculture may be the best approach to improving children’s nutritional status.

Infant and young child feeding practices and its associated factors among mothers of under two years children in a western hilly region of Nepal

Infant and young child feeding is a key area to improve child survival and promote healthy growth and development. Nepal government has developed and implemented different programs to improve infant and young child feeding practice. However, the practice remains poor and is a major cause of malnutrition in Nepal. This study aims to identify infant and young child feeding practices and its associated factors among mothers of children aged less than two years in western hilly region of Nepal. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 360 mothers of under two years’ children in Syangja district. A semi structural questionnaire was used. Data was entered in EpiData and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistics were used to report the feeding practices and other independent variables. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression model was used to establish the factors associated with infant and young child feeding practices. The prevalence of breastfeeding, timely initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, timely initiation of complementary feeding, minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency and minimum acceptable diet (MAD) were 95.6%, 69.2%, 47.6%, 53.3%, 61.5%, 67.3% and 49.9% respectively. Normal delivery (AOR 6.1, 95% CI 1.2–31.3) and higher maternal autonomy (AOR 5.2, 95% CI 1.8–14.6) were significantly associated with exclusive breastfeeding. Similarly, crop production and food security (AOR 3.8, 95% CI 1.9–7.7), maternal knowledge on MAD (AOR 2.5, 95% CI 1.0–6.2) and maternal autonomy (AOR 4.2, 95% CI 2.1–8.4) were significantly associated with minimum acceptable diet. Factors such as maternal education, maternal health services utilization, maternal knowledge, and maternal autonomy were associated with infant and young child feeding practices, which warrants further attention to these factors to reduce malnutrition.