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Age-appropriate infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices are critical to child nutrition.The objective of this paper was to examine the associations between age-appropriate IYCF practices and child nutrition outcomes in India using data from ~18 463 children of 0-23.9 months old from India's National Family Health Survey, 2005-06-3. The outcome measures were child height-for-age z-score (HAZ), weight-for-age z-score (WAZ), weight-for-height z-score, stunting, underweight and wasting. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used, accounting for the clustered survey data. Regression models were adjusted for child, maternal, and household characteristics, and state and urban/rural residence. The analyses indicate that in India suboptimal IYCF practices are associated with poor nutrition outcomes in children. Early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding were not associated with any of the nutrition outcomes considered. Not consuming any solid or semi-solid foods at 6-8.9 months was associated with being underweight (P < 0.05). The diet diversity score and achieving minimum diet diversity (⩾4 food groups) for children 6-23 months of age were most strongly and significantly associated with HAZ, WAZ, stunting and underweight (P < 0.05). Maternal characteristics were also strongly associated with child undernutrition. In summary, poor IYCF practices, particularly poor complementary foods and feeding practices, are associated with poor child nutrition outcomes in India, particularly linear growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, poor feeding practices in early childhood contribute to the burden of malnutrition as well as infant and child mortality. This paper aims to use the newly developed World Health Organization (WHO) infant feeding indicators to determine the prevalence of complementary feeding indicators among children of 6-23 months of age and to identify the determinants of inappropriate complementary feeding practices in India. The study data on 15 028 last-born children aged 6-23 months was obtained from the National Family Health Survey 2005-2006. Inappropriate complementary feeding indicators were examined against a set of child, parental, household, health service and community level characteristics. The prevalence of timely introduction of complementary feeding among infants aged 6-8 months was 55%. Among children aged 6-23 months, minimum dietary diversity rate was 15.2%, minimum meal frequency 41.5% and minimum acceptable diet 9.2%. Children in northern and western geographical regions of India had higher odds for inappropriate complementary feeding indicators than in other geographical regions. Richest households were less likely to delay introduction of complementary foods than other households. Other determinants of not meeting minimum dietary diversity and minimum acceptable diet were: no maternal education, lower maternal Body Mass Index (BMI) (<18.5 kg/m2), lower wealth index, less frequent (<7) antenatal clinic visits, lack of post-natal visits and poor exposure to media. A very low proportion of children aged 6-23 months in India received adequate complementary foods as measured by the WHO indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inadequate feeding and care may contribute to high rates of stunting and underweight among children in rural families in India. This cluster-randomized trial tested the hypothesis that teaching caregivers appropriate complementary feeding and strategies for how to feed and play responsively through home-visits would increase children's dietary intake, growth and development compared with home-visit-complementary feeding education alone or routine care. Sixty villages in Andhra Pradesh were randomized into three groups of 20 villages with 200 mother-infant dyads in each group. The control group (CG) received routine Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS); the complementary feeding group (CFG) received the ICDS plus the World Health Organization recommendations on breastfeeding and complementary foods; and the responsive complementary feeding and play group (RCF&PG) received the same intervention as the CFG plus skills for responsive feeding and psychosocial stimulation. Both intervention groups received bi-weekly visits by trained village women. The groups did not differ at 3 months on socioeconomic status, maternal and child nutritional indices, and maternal depression. After controlling for potential confounding factors using the mixed models approach, the 12-month intervention to the CFG and RCF&PG significantly ( P < 0.05) increased median intakes of energy, protein, Vitamin A, calcium (CFG), iron and zinc, reduced stunting [0.19, confidence interval (CI): 0.0-0.4] in the CFG (but not RCF&PG) and increased ( P < 0.01) Bayley Mental Development scores (mean = 3.1, CI: 0.8-5.3) in the RCF&PG (but not CFG) compared with CG. Community-based educational interventions can improve dietary intake, length (CFG) and mental development (RCF&PG) for children under 2 years in food-secure rural Indian families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]