ASSESSMENT OF INFANT AND YOUNG CHILD FEEDING PRACTICES AMONG MOTHERS IN RURAL MADHYA PRADESH

Introduction: Feeding during early childhood is important for normal physical and mental growth as well as for health in later life. In India, poor feeding practices in early childhood contribute to the burden of malnutrition and infant and child mortality. Objective: Objective of the study was to assess the Infant and young child feeding practices among the children less than two year of age. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 300 children less than 24 month of age were studied using a standard pretested & pre-validated questionnaire. Result: Exclusive breastfeeding was followed by about 84.9% children under 6 month of age. About 64% children were put on breastfeeding within one hour of birth. It was found that 51.1% of infants aged 6-8 months were receive soft, semi-solid or solid foods. However few children aged 6-23 months met the requirements for indicators for Minimum dietary diversity (47.8%), Minimum meal frequency (67.8%) and Minimum acceptable diet (32.8%). Conclusion: This study showed that although the exclusive breastfeeding rate is satisfactory but there are many inappropriate feeding practices during early childhood. These findings highlight the need for effective national level nutrition programmes to enhance breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices with a focus on the target groups