Complementary feeding practices and their determinants among children aged 6–23 months in rural Bangladesh: evidence from Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) 2018–2019 evaluated against WHO/UNICEF guideline -2021

Abstract

Background Appropriate Complementary feeding (CF) practices play a crucial role in determining child nutrition, growth, and development. This study seeks to examine CF practices and their predictors among children aged 6 to 23 months in rural Bangladesh according to the most recently updated WHO/UNICEF guidelines for CF. Methods A total of 665 children aged 6 to 23 months from the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) 2018–2019 dataset were analyzed. The WHO/UNICEF guidelines for CF were followed to evaluate each of the nine CF practice indicators. We also examined the effect of the child, maternal, household, and community-level factors on different CF components using multiple logistic regression analyses. Results Approximately two-thirds of the children initiated complementary feeding on time (63.5%) but had zero vegetable or fruit consumption (63.2%). More than half (52.4%) and the majority (86.5%) of children had minimum meal frequency and minimum milk feeding frequency, respectively. On the other hand, the proportion of minimum dietary diversity was quite low (18.3%), as reflected in the alarming prevalence (16.3%) of minimum acceptable diet. Egg and/or flesh food, sweet beverage, and unhealthy food consumption were 23.3%, 2.5%, and 12.2%, respectively. Child age, mothers’ education level, antenatal care visit, household food security, monthly household income, and place of residence were found to be associated with CF practices. Conclusion When compared to results obtained using the previous guideline, the new one has resulted in a lower prevalence of Introduction of solid, semi-solid, or soft foods (ISSF), Minimum dietary diversity (MDD), Minimum meal frequency (MMF), and Minimum acceptable diet (MAD). It is crucial to convey the new knowledge for better child feeding and nutrition as the country prepares to apply the new guideline.

Appropriate complementary feeding practice and associated factors among mothers of children aged 6–23 months in Bhimphedi rural municipality of Nepal

“…Mothers who are from food-secure households were more likely to practice appropriate complementary feeding practice in compression to those who were from food-insecure house households (AOR 3.0, CI: 1.0–8.9). This finding is consistent with the study done in Ethiopia [ 14 , 31 , 32 ] and Bangladesh [ 20 , 33 ]. This can be explained by the fact that food secured family has access to nutritious food throughout the year.…”

“…In this study, 82% of mothers of children aged 6–23 had initiated complementary feeding at the age of 6–8 months. This finding is consistent with the findings from Nepal Demographic Health Survey 2016 [ 7 ], and higher than similar studies done in Ethiopia [ 11 , 19 ] and Bangladesh [ 20 ]. Out of the research participants, 71% of the children received an appropriate frequency of complementary food as per the WHO recommendation.…”

“…The finding of this study is consistent with the findings from the Nepal Demographic Health Survey 2016 [ 7 ], Southern Ethiopia [ 11 ]. However, the finding is higher than the study done in Ethiopia [ 21 ], Northern Tanzania [ 22 ] and Bangladesh [ 20 ]. It was found that thirty-seven percent of mother offer at least five groups of food out of eight food groups to their children.…”

“…It was found that thirty-seven percent of mother offer at least five groups of food out of eight food groups to their children. This finding is higher than the study done in Ethiopia [ 21 ], Pakistan [ 23 ], and Bangladesh [ 20 ] and lower than Srilanka [ 24 ] and Oromia-Ethopia [ 14 ]. Similarly, 27% of children aged 6–23 months received a minimum acceptable diet.…”

Complementary feeding practices and associated factors among mothers of children aged 6 to 23 months in Sub-saharan African countries: a multilevel analysis of the recent demographic and health survey

“…Mothers who did not attend ANC visits during pregnancy were less likely to have appropriate complementary feeding practices. The finding was supported by studies conducted in Ethiopia [ 23 ], Nigeria [ 19 ], and Bangladesh [ 46 ]. This could be because the information and counseling provided by health care professionals to mothers during their utilization of ANC services increases their knowledge about appropriate complementary feeding practices.…”