Publication:

Nutritional status of children in rural Telangana in relation to complementary feeding practices

Background Breast milk alone is not enough to meet the nutritional needs of the infant after 6 months of age and optimal complementary feeds should be added to the diet at this time while continuing the breast feeds. This transition from exclusive breastfeeding to family feeds i.e., complementary feeding covers the period from 6 to 18-23 months of age and is vulnerable for malnutrition to develop. Therefore this study aimed to identify the nutritional status of infants and young children (6 to 23 months) in relation to currently existing complementary feeding practices in rural Telangana.

Methods It is a cross-sectional observational hospital based study carried out in Pediatric Department, Kamineni Institute of Medical College, Narketpally, Nalgonda district, Telangana from September 2015 to December 2015. Mothers who have children were included and anthropometry of children was taken and analysed.

Results 44.6% were under weight, 37.7% were stunted, 20.78% were wasted in the current study. Under nutrition reached to the peak levels at 18-23 months of age. Low socio-economic status, mother’s education, birth spacing of <2 years, prolonged exclusive breast feeding and less than recommended frequency of complementary feeds were risk factors for various forms of malnutrition.

Conclusions Poor IYCF practices are associated with poor nutritional outcomes. The state of IYCF practices across India should improve to achieve the goals of global targets for 2025.