Research Paper
Use of formative research to optimize Infant and young child feeding Practices (IYCF) in developing countries.
Author: Fahmina Anwar1, Ratan.K.Srivastava2, S.P.Singh3
1 Research Scholar, 2 Professor & Mentor 3 Professor
Department of Community Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU, Varanasi-221005
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ABSTRACT
Optimum nutrition and good feeding of infants and young children are among the most important determinants of their health, growt
h and development. It
prevents malnutrition and Early growth retardation, which is common in developing countries
. Inappropriate care and feeding practices are recognized as some of the underlying causes of undernutrition1. More specifically, lack of knowledge of optimal feeding practices and cultural beliefs contribute to deteriorating child nutritional status (2-3). Common inappropriate feeding practices prevalent in developing nations include low rate of exclusive breast feeding practices, introducing foods too early or too late, limiting the diversity of foods, and providing an inadequate quantity of food (4, 5).
In children, positive changes in health and nutrition manifest themselves in many forms, including improvements in growth and development and reductions in morbidity and mortality. Each of these outcome is the result of complex interactions between familial care giving behaviours and the biological underpinnings of health and nutrition. Behaviour change interventions aiming to improve Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices and growth are commonly referred to as ‘nutrition education’ in literature today. Nutrition education in this sense is more than just educating individuals or delivering information about healthy practices. It involves working with communities to understand their perceptions and constraints and ultimately identifying solutions for addressing nutritional problems. This may require improving the self-efficacy of caregivers, or changing physical and social environments to support positive behaviour change. The behaviour change strategy should promote the range of practices recommended for specific ages in a culturally appropriate and timely way, targeting not just those who practice the behaviours but those who influence the behaviours in a household and community. The behaviour change program should also seek to achieve the highest coverage possible, maintain regular
