Testing ecological and universal models of body shape and child health using a global sample of infants and young children

Breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices have significant implications for the child health status. In Namibia, the Maternal and Child Health programme has teamed up with the WHO and UNICEF to improve feeding practices of infants and young children. The main objective of this paper is to examine practices of breastfeeding and complementary feeding among mothers with infants and young children aged 0–24 months. The paper focuses on examining the period of breastfeeding cessation by mothers and the time of the introduction of complementary foods. Information was obtained from 9 176 mothers of 16 237 infants and young children aged 0–24 months interviewed during the 2013 Namibia Demographic and Health Survey. A survival analysis was used to explore the effects of different variables on the time course of breastfeeding. Although breastfeeding initiation is quite high, most mothers do not continue to breastfeed to 24 months. Among children aged between 0 and 24 months, only 28.2 per cent were still breastfed, and continued breastfeeding is lowly practiced with only 6.1 per cent of children between 20 and 24 months still breastfed. A significant proportion of infants were introduced to solid foods before the recommended age of six months with 31.3 per cent given some solid foods. Developing a breastfeeding culture that involves increasing the duration of maternity leave for working mothers should be considered.

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Tuberculin conversion and tuberculosis disease in infants and young children from the Drakenstein Child Health Study: A call to action

South African Medical Journal ◽

10.7196/samj.2018.v108i4.13169 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 108 (4) ◽

pp. 247 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

L Martinez ◽

H J Zar

Keyword(s):

Child Health ◽

Young Children ◽

Health Study ◽

Call To Action ◽

Tuberculosis Disease ◽

Infants And Young Children

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PRACTICE OF PEDIATRICS

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.28.5.838 ◽

1961 ◽

Vol 28 (5) ◽

pp. 838-840

Author(s):

Samuel M. Wishik

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Child Health ◽

Young Children ◽

Maternal And Child Health ◽

Health Supervision ◽

Recent Interest ◽

The Status ◽

Tangible Evidence ◽

And Child Health ◽

Made In

WITH THE RECENT INTEREST in re-evaluation of the practice of pediatrics, it is gratifying to obtain some tangible evidence concerning the demands that are being made upon practicing pediatricians and information on the effectiveness of certain aspects of their work. Such documentation is contained in the fine, thoughtful report on health supervision of young children in California, recently issued by the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health of the Department of Public Health of the State of California.* The comprehensive report presents the combined findings of a child health survey made in 1956 with Children's Bureau support and of other studies on the status of health supervision of infants and preschoolage children in California.

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Health Supervision of Young Children, A Project of the Committee on Child Health

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.15.5.650 ◽

1955 ◽

Vol 15 (5) ◽

pp. 650-651

Keyword(s):

Child Health ◽

Young Children ◽

School Age ◽

American Public Health Association ◽

Health Checkup ◽

Private Physician ◽

Health Supervision ◽

Medical Responsibility ◽

Health Association ◽

And Child Health

"Changing concepts of medical responsibility for young children" are appropriate opening words in this new guide for physicians and child health conference personnel, published by the Committee on Child Health of the American Public Health Association. Since the establishment of the first well-baby clinics near the end of the nineteenth century, taking a well child between birth and school age to a private physician for periodic health checkup has become a traditional part of the American scene. The original purpose of the clinics was to give babies clean milk that would prevent diarrhea and to have them immunized against diphtheria.

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