Determination of the impact of infant and young child feeding counselling services on the knowledge of mother-children dyads less than two years

Authors

  • Karen Janice Moras Department of Pediatrics, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal University, Udupi, India http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0411-6804
  • Asha D. Benakappa Department of Pediatrics, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bangalore, India
  • Gangadhar Belavadi Department of Pediatrics, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bangalore, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2349-3291.ijcp20212323

Keywords:

IYCF, Malnutrition, Breastfeeding, Complementary feeding

Abstract

Background: Optimum infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices are essential for adequate growth and development of infants and children. Malnutrition in children occurs almost entirely during the first two years of life, is virtually irreversible after that. Despite the IYCF guidelines, there is no consistent literature on the prevalence of existing IYCF practices and impact of optimum IYCF practices. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of existing IYCF practices and to determine the impact of IYCF counseling in children less than 2 years.

Methods: A cross-sectional before and after study was done in mother-children dyads (aged 0-24 months). All 125 mother-children dyads were interviewed using prevalidated IYCF questionnaire after obtaining informed consent. The pre-counseling knowledge of mothers, on existing IYCF practices were analyzed using IYCF core and optional indicators. At 6 weeks, the post-counselling knowledge of the mothers was assessed using the same core and optional indicators.

Results: Exclusive breastfeeding was seen in 18 of 43 (41.8%) mothers who showed statistically significant improvement to 40 (93%) (p<0.001) after counseling. Children ever breastfed were 62.4%. Predominat breastfeeding was observed in 24%. Initiation of complementary feeding at 6 months of age, improved significantly (p<0.001) post-counseling from 19 mothers (82.6%) to 23 mothers (100%). Minimum dietary diversity improved significantly post counseling, from 23 (28.7%) children to 70 children (87.5%) (p=0.03). Minimum meal frequency was only 22 (48.8%) in breastfed and 8 (22.9%) in non-breastfed children before counseling and improved to 40 (88.9%) in breastfed and 28 (80%) in non-breastfed children (p=0.04). The minimum acceptable diet was given to 2 (4.4%) children aged 6-23 months out of 45 in the breastfed group and on counseling, it improved to 37 (82.23%), which was statistically significant (p<0.001). Among the 35 non-breastfed children, with 2 children aged 6-23 months receiving minimally acceptable diet increased to 28 (80%) post counseling, which was found to be statistically significant (p<0.0001). A significant reduction in bottle feeding was observed from 52 (41.6%) mothers bottle feeding pre counseling, to 18 (1.4%) post counseling (p<0.001).

Conclusions: The present study concludes that maternal education on IYCF practices improves their knowledge significantly irrespective of their socioeconomic and education status. Effective IYCF counselling services improve the growth and development of a child. IYCF counselling services provide a critical window of opportunity to tackle the malnutrition crisis and ensure and promote appropriate child growth and survival.

Author Biographies

Karen Janice Moras, Department of Pediatrics, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal University, Udupi, India

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS

 

Asha D. Benakappa, Department of Pediatrics, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bangalore, India

PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS

Gangadhar Belavadi, Department of Pediatrics, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bangalore, India

PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS

References

World Health Organisation . Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organisation, 2003. Available at: https://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/infantfeeding/9241562218/en/#:~:text=WHO%20and%20UNICEF%20jointly%20developed,of%20infants%20and%20young%20children. Accessed on 20 March 2021.

Martorell R, Khan LK, Schroeder DG. Reversibility of stunting: epidemiological findings in children from developing countries. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1994;48(1):45-57.

Benakappa AD, Shivamoorthy P. Beliefs regarding diet during childhood illness. Indian J Community Med. 2012;37(1):20-4.

Arzu T, Sujan AK, Juliana FM, Hossain S. Study of IYCF indicators on practices and knowledge of mothers in rural areas. Am J Pub Health Res. 2018;6(3):130-3.

UNICEF. Fact sheet: Infant and young child feeding, 2015. Available at: http://data.unicef.org/nutrition/iycf.html. Accessed on 1 May 2021.

Das N, Chattopadhyay D, Chakraborty S, Dasgupta A. Infant and young child feeding perceptions and practices among mothers in a rural area of West Bengal, India. Ann Med Health Sci Res. 2013;3(3): 370-5.

International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and ORC Macro. National Family Health Survey (NFHS) III, 2005-06. IIPS: Mumbai, India 2005. Available at: https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/frind3/frind3-vol1andvol2.pdf. Accessed on 20 March 2021

World Breast Feeding Trends Initiative (WBTI). Arrested Development: 4th Assessment of India’s Policies and Programs on Infant and Young Child Feeding. BPNI/IBFAN Asia: 2015. Available at: https://www.worldbreastfeedingtrends.org/uploads/country-data/country-report/WBTi-India-Report-2018.pdf. Accessed on 20 March 2021.

Joshi N, Agho KE, Dibley MJ, Senarath U, Tiwari K. Determinants of inappropriate complementary feeding practices in young children in Nepal: secondary data analysis of Demographic and Health Survey 2006. Matern Child Nutr. 2012;8(1):45-59.

Kabir I, Khanam M, Agho KE, Mihrshahi S, Dibley MJ, Roy SK. Determinants of inappropriate complementary feeding practices in infant and young children in Bangladesh: secondary data analysis of Demographic Health Survey 2007. Matern Child Nutr. 2012;8(1):11-27.

Thorne-Lyman AL, Valpiani N, Sun K, Semba RD, Klotz CL, Kraemer K, et al. Household dietary diversity and food expenditures are closely linked in rural Bangladesh, increasing the risk of malnutrition due to the financial crisis. J Nutr. 2010;140(1):182-8.

Khan AM, Kayina P, Agrawal P, Gupta A, Kannan AT. A study on infant and young child feeding practices among mothers attending an urban health centre in East Delhi. Ind J Public Health. 2012;56(4):301-4.

Dasgupta A, Naiya S, Ray S, Ghosal A, Pravakar R, Ram P. Assessment of infant and young child feeding practices among the mothers in a slum area of kolkata: a cross sectional study. Int J Biol Med Res. 2014;5(1):3855-61.

Gebremedhin S. Core and optional infant and young child feeding indicators in Sub-Saharan Africa: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 2019;9(2):023238.

Rathaur VK, Pathania M, Pannu C, Jain A, Dhar M, Pathania N, et al. Prevalent infant feeding practices among the mothers presenting at a tertiary care hospital in Garhwal Himalayan region, Uttarakhand, India. J Family Med Prim Care. 2018;7(1):45-52.

Downloads

Published

2021-06-24

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles