Infant Young Child Feeding Practices in an Indian Maternal–Child Birth Cohort in Belagavi, Karnataka

Shweta Khandelwal, Dimple Kondal, Anindita Ray Chakravarti, Soumam Dutta, Bipsa Banerjee, Monica Chaudhry, Kamal Patil, Mallaiah Kenchaveeraiah Swamy, Usha Ramakrishnan, Dorairaj Prabhakaran, Nikhil Tandon and Aryeh D. Stein
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Shweta Khandelwal: Public Health Foundation of India, Delhi NCR 122002, India
Dimple Kondal: Public Health Foundation of India, Delhi NCR 122002, India
Anindita Ray Chakravarti: Department of Food & Nutrition, Maharani Kasiswari College, University of Calcutta, Kolkata 700073, India
Soumam Dutta: Department of Home Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata 700027, India
Bipsa Banerjee: Department of Home Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata 700027, India
Monica Chaudhry: Public Health Foundation of India, Delhi NCR 122002, India
Kamal Patil: KAHER’s JN Medical College, Belagavi 590010, India
Mallaiah Kenchaveeraiah Swamy: KAHER’s JN Medical College, Belagavi 590010, India
Usha Ramakrishnan: Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Dorairaj Prabhakaran: Public Health Foundation of India, Delhi NCR 122002, India
Nikhil Tandon: Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India
Aryeh D. Stein: Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: Poor infant young child feeding (IYCF) practices result in malnutrition, poor psychosocial development, poor school performance and less productivity in later life, thereby perpetuating a vicious cycle. The current study aims to characterize the IYCF practices during the first year of life in a maternal–child birth cohort (DHANI) in Belagavi, Karnataka, India. We collected data from the dyad at birth, 6 and 12 months postpartum. We examined dietary diversity among these infants at 12 months using WHO criteria. A total of 902 live births were recorded, and 878 mother–child pairs completed the 12-month follow up. The overall prevalence of early (within 1 h of delivery) initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) was 77.9%, and that of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) at 6 months was 52.4%. At 12 months, most (90%) infants were breastfed, while 39% also received formula. The large majority (94.4%) of infants met minimum meal frequency (MMF), but only 55% of infants were receiving a minimum acceptable diet (MAD). The mean dietary diversity (DD) score was 4.7 ± 1.1. Only 21.9% of infants consumed egg and/or flesh food. A large proportion (33.8%) of infants received no vegetables and/or fruits till 12 months of age. Consumption of sweet beverage was 4.8%, but consumption of ultra-processed foods high in trans-fats, sugars and salt was high (85.8%). High-quality, sustainable and scalable interventions to enhance knowledge and support positive behaviour change for adopting and implementing better IYCF practices may be urgently needed in low- and middle-income group settings to improve diet diversity and overall nutritional intake amongst young children.

Keywords: infant young child feeding practices; diet diversity; anthropometry; complementary foods; South India; breastfeeding (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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