Adherence to Child Feeding Practices and Child Growth: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis in Cambodia

Abstract

Appropriate feeding in the first 1000 days of a child’s life is critical for their health and growth. We determined associations between adherence to age-appropriate feeding practices and child growth in Cambodia. Children (n = 1079) were included in the first follow-up (FU) data analyses and followed for 30 months (six FUs). Data were analyzed by generalized linear mixed-effect models. Children who adhered to feeding practices on at least three FUs, with an adequate minimal dietary diversity (MDD), a minimal acceptable diet (MAD), and age-appropriate daily feeding (ADF) were less stunted (14.8%, 12.3%, and 6.4%, respectively) than children who never adhered to these indicators (25.2%, 30.1%, and 24.8%, respectively). A higher adherence to MDD and ADF was associated with a higher height-for-age Z-score (HAZ) (β: 0.13, 95% CI: 0.01–0.25 and β: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.22–0.50), while a higher adherence to the MDD and MAD was associated with a higher weight-for-height Z-score (WHZ) (β: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.08–0.30; and β: 0.16, 95% CI: 0.05–0.27). A higher adherence to a minimum meal frequency (MMF) was associated with a lower HAZ (β: −0.99, 95% CI: −1.28–−0.70). Our findings showed that to reduce wasting and stunting in Cambodia, interventions should focus on improving both the quality and quantity of food intake of children under two while targeting the whole complementary feeding period.

Associations between dental caries and ponderal growth in children: A Cambodian study

“…This is not thought to influence the directionality and size of the effect, as the E-values suggest that unmeasured confounding would have to be large relative to the observed effects. Further, unmeasured confounding would need to be greater than that reported in previous investigations from the same cohort [ 8 , 27 ]. The implications are that this initial descriptive exercise should be followed up by a more intensive research study using long-term cohorts specifically designed to explore the relationship between ECC and growth development.…”

Feeding practices, dietary adequacy, and dietary diversities among caregivers with under-five children: A descriptive cross-section study in Dodoma region, Tanzania

“…Furthermore, tallying the findings of other scholars [ 33 , 34 ] has also revealed that caregivers’ unsatisfactory feeding practices against the WHO recommendations have been a problem of public concern. The problem is linked significantly with caregivers’ sex, education level, marital status, the total number of children they have, the number of under-five children they have, the place they delivered their babies, their average birth space between children, occupation, and a person who spends much time caring a baby, residency [ 33 , 35 ].…”

Stunting Malnutrition Associated with Severe Tooth Decay in Cambodian Toddlers

“…As a Cambodian specific diet indicator, The Cambodian Complementary Feeding (CCF) variable was calculated based on the Nutrition Handbook for the family, prepared and adapted by the National Cambodian Nutrition Program [36]. It was based on the number of spoons of Chan Chang Koeh and determined according to age and breastfeeding status [29,30].…”

“…The 2 sets of questionnaires for sociodemographic characteristics and child feeding practices were administered at baseline by trained Cambodian interviewers in Khmer, or translated into the local indigenous language for some minority populations in northeastern provinces. Dietary intake was assessed using a 24-h recall period, based on WHO guidelines and described in published articles on child feeding practices status [28][29][30]. Parents/caregivers were asked to recall and report on breastfeeding frequency, consumed food groups, frequency of meals, and amount of food given during meals using as unit of measure context relevant utensils: spoons and Chan Chang Koeh, a traditional bowl in Southeast Asia.…”