Determinants of inappropriate timing of introducing solid, semi‐solid or soft food to infants in Pakistan: Secondary data analysis of Demographic and Health Survey 2006–2007

Abstract

Inappropriate timing of introducing complementary food deprives the infant of optimum nutrition, leading to undernutrition, and increased mortality and morbidity. The aim of this analysis was to identify determinants of inappropriate timing of introduction of solid, semi-solid and soft foods in Pakistan. Data on 941 infants 3.00 to 8.99 months were obtained from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2006-2007. The prevalence of introduction of foods among infants aged 3.00-5.99 months and 6.00-8.99 months was examined against a set of individual, household and community level variables using univariate analysis. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for early introduction in age 3.00-5.99 months and non-introduction in 6.00-8.99 months of age were calculated using backward stepwise logistic regression models. The prevalence of early introduction of complementary foods among 3.00- to 5.99-month-old and timely introduction among 6.00- to 8.99-month-old infants were 10.6% and 39.2%, respectively. Multivariate analyses revealed that mothers who had four or more antenatal clinic visits (AOR=2.68) and who lived in the provinces of Sindh (AOR=2.89) and Baluchistan (AOR=6.75) were more likely to introduce complementary foods early. Mothers from middle-level households (AOR=7.82), poorer households (AOR=4.84) and poorest households (AOR=5.72) were significantly more likely to delay introduction of complementary foods. In conclusion more than half (60.8%) of Pakistani infants do not receive complementary foods at recommended time. Public health interventions to improve the timing of introduction of complementary food are needed at national level with special focus on high risk groups.

Appropriate Weaning Practice and Associated Factors among Infants and Young Children in Northwest Ethiopia

“…Children from a family size, containing four and more members, were 71.3% less likely to get appropriate weaning than those from family size of three and less. This finding is in line with findings of EDHS 2011 [12] and a study done in Pakistan [25], which conclude that the second and third born children had a higher risk of not gaining weaning foods in the recommended age than those of first born infants. This might be related to food affordability problem with increased family size.…”

Determinants of Early Introduction of Solid, Semi-Solid or Soft Foods among Infants Aged 3–5 Months in Four Anglophone West African Countries

“…Regional differences in the rates of EISF have been reported in Pakistan [36]. Although this finding was not revealed for Ghana in this study, rates of EISF were found to vary in the geographical regions in Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal.…”

How is perceived community cohesion and membership in community groups associated with children’s dietary adequacy in disadvantaged communities? A case of the Indian Sundarbans

“…This is in line with previous studies from south east Asian contexts that show a positive association of a child’s nutritional intake with mother’s educational status [13, 44, 45, 47, 48]. Analysis of the Indian National Family Health Survey has similarly found mothers education (and household income) to be important predictors of child feeding practices [48].…”

“…We found no statistically significant difference between minimal acceptable diet by child gender, which echoes the findings of other studies on child feeding in South Asia [13, 44, 45]. However, given high levels of male child preference in the region, we expected boys to be significantly more likely to receive minimum acceptable diet than girls, when in fact our (non-significant) findings show that girls were more likely to receive minimum acceptable diet than boys.…”