Malnutrition and infant and young child feeding in informal settlements in Mumbai, India: findings from a census

Abstract

Childhood malnutrition remains common in India. We visited families in 40 urban informal settlement areas in Mumbai to document stunting, wasting, and overweight in children under five, and to examine infant and young child feeding (IYCF) in children under 2 years. We administered questions on eight core WHO IYCF indicators and on sugary and savory snack foods, and measured weight and height of children under five. Stunting was seen in 45% of 7450 children, rising from 15% in the first year to 56% in the fifth. About 16% of children were wasted and 4% overweight. 46% of infants were breastfed within the first hour, 63% were described as exclusively breastfed under 6 months, and breastfeeding continued for 12 months in 74%. The indicator for introduction of solids was met for 41% of infants. Only 13% of children satisfied the indicator for minimum dietary diversity, 43% achieved minimum meal frequency, and 5% had a minimally acceptable diet. About 63% of infants had had sugary snacks in the preceding 24 h, rising to 78% in the second year. Fried and salted snack foods had been eaten by 34% of infants and 66% of children under two. Stunting and wasting remain unacceptably common in informal settlements in Mumbai, and IYCF appears problematic, particularly in terms of dietary diversity. The ubiquity of sugary, fried, and salted snack foods is a serious concern: substantial consumption begins in infancy and exceeds that of all other food groups except grains, roots, and tubers.

Infant and young child feeding practice among mothers with 0–24 months old children in Slum areas of Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia

“…This finding is consistent with study findings in Mumbai [39] and Pakistan [37]. Yet, this finding is lower than the study findings in other parts of Ethiopia [33, 40], Ghana [41] and India [31, 42].…”

Maternal depression does not affect complementary feeding indicators or stunting status of young children (6–23 months) in Northern Ghana

“…Given the higher prevalences of MMF, MDD, and MAD observed in our study, one would have expected a lower rate of stunting but this was not the case reflecting a lack of association between complementary feeding indicators and child nutritional status, a finding also reported by another study [31]. An alternative explanation is the unavailability of other important determinants of child nutritional status such as preventive health services.…”

Energy intake from unhealthy snack food/beverage among 12‐23‐month‐old children in urban Nepal

“…Our study results showing an association between higher wealth status/educational attainment with lower USFB consumption are consistent with other studies in LMIC (Anderson et al, ; Bentley et al, ; Gatica et al, ; Jeharsae et al, ; Pries et al, ). It has been hypothesized that families in low‐income settings may be more inclined to purchase energy‐dense snack food products because these products could be a more affordable food option (Angeles‐Agdeppa et al, ; Drewnowski et al, ).…”