Household food security and infant feeding practices in rural Bangladesh (378.1)

Abstract

To identify predictors of infant complementary feeding (CF) practices in rural Bangladesh, we studied pregnant women and their infants followed‐up at age 3 and 9 mo. Information on sociodemographics, maternal diet, and infant diet and feeding practices were collected by interview. Maternal food composition score (FCS) at infant age 3 mo, calculated via the World Food Programme method and dichotomized at the median, was used as an indicator of household food security, the main exposure. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify predictors of infant feeding practices.2078 mother‐child dyads completed the 9 mo follow‐up. CF was initiated at age 蠄 4 months for 4.3%, at 5‐6 months for 50%, and 蠅 7 months for 45% of infants. Based on 24‐hour dietary recall, 97.8% of infants were still breastfeeding at age 9 months, 16.4% received 蠅 4 food groups and 16.1% received a minimum acceptable diet (i.e. 蠅 4 food groups and 蠅 4 meals in addition to breastmilk). Infants from households with higher maternal FCS at 3 mo were more likely to receive 蠅 4 food groups (aOR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.6, 2.7) and a minimum acceptable diet (aOR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.5, 2.6) at 9 mo. SES, maternal age, literacy and parity were not associated with either outcome.Maternal FCS is a good predictor of subsequent infant feeding practices. Households with poor maternal FCS are likely to also have poor infant diet, and hence might benefit from interventions to improve both.