Exclusive breastfeeding means that an infant receives, or is given, only breast milk from its mother or wet nurse, and no other liquids or solids, including water, or oral rehydration solutions, Except for drops, or syrups. Vitamins, minerals supplements, or medications. Complementary feeding is defined as the practice when breast milk is not sufficient to meet the infant’s nutritional needs, and therefore other foods and liquids are require in addition to breast milk. Ideally, infants should be breastfed within one hour of birth, exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life, and breastfed for 2 years and beyond. Infant And Young Children Feeding
Starting at 6 months, breastfeeding should be combine with safe, age-appropriate nutritious solid, semi-solid, and soft foods. In 2021, UNICEF and WHO published an updated set of indicators to assess infant and young child breastfeeding practices during this critical window from birth to 2 years of age. Adequate nutrition in infancy and early childhood is essential to ensure children’s growth, health, and development to their full potential. Poor nutrition increases the risk of disease and is directly or indirectly responsible for one-third of the estimated 9.5 million deaths in 2006 among children under 5 years of age (1,2)
Childhood Obesity
Inadequate nutrition can also lead to childhood obesity, which is a growing public health problem in many countries. Early and exclusive breastfeeding helps protect against childhood infections, provides optimal nutrition, supports ideal development, and is associate with reduce prevalence of overweight and diabetes later in life. Infant and young child feeding is a key area for improving child survival and promoting healthy growth and development.
The Government of Nepal has developed and implemented various programs to improve infant and young child feeding practices. However, this practice remains poor and is a major cause of malnutrition in Nepal. The aim of this study is to identify infant and toddler feeding practices and associated factors among mothers of children under two years of age in the Western Highlands of Nepal. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conduct among 360 mothers of children under two years of age in the Siangja District. A semi-structured questionnaire was used. Infant And Young Children Feeding
Feeding Methods And Independent Variables
Descriptive statistics were use to report feeding methods and other independent variables. Neonatal and multivariate logistic regression models were used to establish factors associate with infant and toddler feeding practices. Prevalence of breastfeeding, timely initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, timely initiation of complementary feeding, minimum dietary diversity, the minimum frequency of meals, and minimum acceptable intake (MAD) was 95.6%, 69.2%, % and 3.6%, %3.5, %3.5, %3. 67.3%, and 49.9% respectively. Normal delivery (AOR 6.1, 95% CI 1.2–31.3) and high maternal autonomy (AOR 5.2, 95% CI 1.8–14.6) were significantly associate with exclusive breastfeeding. Similarly, crop production and food security (AOR 3.8, 95% CI 1.9–7.7), maternal knowledge of MAD (AOR 2.5, 95% CI 1.0–6.2), and maternal autonomy (AOR 4.2, 95% CI 2.1–8.4) were significantly associate with minimum acceptable intake. Infant And Young Children Feeding
Factors such as maternal education, use of maternal health services, maternal knowledge, and maternal autonomy were associate with infant and young child feeding practices, suggesting further attention to these factors to reduce malnutrition. Required. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducte between 01-30/2016 among 423 mothers with children age 0-24 months. Infant and young child feeding practices were evaluate using 15 World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Infant And Young Children Feeding
Early malnutrition is also associate with long-term impairment in growth and health. Malnutrition in the first 2 years of life causes stunting, causing the adult to be several centimeters shorter than their potential height (3). There is evidence that adults who were malnourished in childhood have impaired mental performance (4). They may also have a reduced ability to perform physical tasks (5,6). If women were malnourished as children, their fertility is affect their children may have lower birth weights, and their births may be more complicate (7). When many children in a population suffer from malnutrition, it has implications for national development. Thus the overall practical consequences of malnutrition are enormous.
Growth And Development Of Children
The first two years of life provide an important opportunity to ensure proper growth and development of children through optimal nutrition (8). Based on the evidence of the effectiveness of interventions, achieving universal coverage of optimal breastfeeding could prevent 13% of deaths among children under 5 years of age globally, while appropriate complementary feeding practices could result in 5% of all deaths over five years. An additional 6 percent decline will occur among younger children. Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) is a key area for improving child survival and promoting healthy growth and development. The first two years of a child’s life provide a critical opportunity to ensure survival and growth.
And the development of infants and young children through best feeding practices [2]. Appropriate infant and young child feeding practices help prevent approximately 19% of all under-five deaths [3]. The World Health Organization recommends that breastfeeding be initiate within one hour of birth, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, and continue breastfeeding until two years of age or beyond, with 6 A nutritionally adequate and safe complementary food should be introduce by the month.
And the development of infants and young children through best feeding practices [2]. Appropriate infant and young child feeding practices help prevent approximately 19% of all under-five deaths [3]. The World Health Organization recommends that breastfeeding be initiate within one hour of birth, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, and continued breastfeeding until two years of age or beyond, with 6 A nutritionally adequate and safe complementary food should be introduce by the month.
And the development of infants and young children through best feeding practices [2]. Appropriate infant and young child feeding practices help prevent approximately 19% of all under-five deaths [3]. The World Health Organization recommends that breastfeeding be initiate within one hour of birth. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, and continue breastfeeding until two years of age or beyond, with 6 A nutritionally adequate and safe complementary food should be introduce by the month.
Health Survey
The Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) reported in 2016 that about 66% of children aged 0-5 months in Nepal were exclusively breastfed. Similarly, the prevalence of minimum meal frequency, minimum dietary diversity, and minimum acceptable diet was 71%, 47%, and 36%, respectively. Breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices vary dramatically in different provinces of Nepal. In Nepal’s Gandaki province, more than fifty percent of children receive at least acceptable food. Compared to only eighteen percent in Nepal’s two provinces. Infant And Young Children Feeding
Feeding Practices
Many studies have been conduct to identify factors associated with infant feeding practices in Nepal. Evidence shows that education, household wealth status, geographic location, maternal age, antenatal visit, postnatal visit, household food security, family community support, exclusive breastfeeding, and complementary feeding in Nepal. are associated with [8-10]. Maternal factors such as decision-making capacity, education, knowledge, and use of maternal health services are important determinants of breastfeeding practices [10-13]. These factors provide mothers with better access and control over household resources that allow them to allocate resources to maintain and improve feeding practices.
Various Acts
The government of Nepal has formulated and implemented various acts, policies, strategies and programs to improve infant feeding practices [15]. IYCF is a priority strategy of the Ministry of Health and Population. Despite the expansion of the program to all districts of Nepal, IYCF practices are poor [16]. Therefore, it is more important to understand local and regional child feeding practices and their associated factors before developing strategies to improve child feeding practices in Nepal. Therefore, this study helps to determine the factors associated with infant feeding practices in the mountainous region of Nepal and to generate local evidence for informed planning of interventions to address poor IYCF practices. Only 49% of mothers started breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
Thirty-seven percent of mothers exclusively breastfed their babies for six months. 70% of mothers introduced complementary foods at 6-8 months of age. 82% of mothers breastfed for at least one year and 75% for at least two years of age. IYCF patterns were not significantly different for boys and girls in the study area. Being an employed mother (AOR 2.14; 95% CI 1.02, 4.51) was positively associate with earlier initiation of breastfeeding. Children