Feeding of Infants and Young Children in South Asia

Abstract

Poor breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices predict child stunting and wasting in South Asia, suggesting that initiatives to end undernutrition in the region should focus on improving the diets of young children. This review of the literature finds that South Asia has made relatively good progress in improving breastfeeding practices compared with other regions, but the lack of diversity in complementary foods and low frequency of feeding continue to be problems. Children who are most at risk of experiencing poor feeding include those who are born small, have younger mothers, and live in poorer households or in communities with less access to, or lower uptake of, primary health services. Initiatives to improve feeding practices have not produced substantial improvement, particularly in complementary feeding, because such efforts have lacked the coverage, intensity, comprehensiveness, and continuity needed. Policy, legal, and program actions to protect, promote, and support recommended feeding practices should be informed by situation analyses and formative research on context-specific drivers of poor practices. The actions should involve multiple sectors and stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, communities, and households.

Association between early weight gain and later adiposity in Sri Lankan adolescents

“…Following this exclusive breastfeeding period, complementary feeding and other milk food feeding commenced, with 41% of infants aged 4–5 months and 85% aged 6–8 months being fed complementary feeds and other milk foods. 21 Accelerated growth is generally considered beneficial and because of that the low-birth-weight babies are enthusiastically fed energy-rich food during complementary feeding. Feeding energy-rich food to promote rapid growth could predispose them to high FM and subsequent metabolic complications in later life.…”

“…Timing of complementary feeding is reported to be satisfactory in more than 80% in half of the countries in the region, while multiple sociocultural and economic factors contribute to the diversity of feeding practices in different South Asian communities. 21 In this backdrop of low birth weight and feeding practices, the health effects of early accelerated weight gain could show interesting variations from what is already reported. The effects of early accelerated weight gain on body composition and cardiometabolic risk in later life are not well described in the South Asian context, and specifically not in Sri Lankan children.…”

Global Productivity: Trends, Drivers, and Policies

“…A better-educated and healthier workforce can have better and more stable jobs and be more productive (World Bank 2018a). Policies to expand school attendance and support nutrition programs for early childhood development can boost educational outcomes in SAR (Beteille 2019;Torlese and Raju 2018;World Bank 2018l).…”

Affordability of nutritious foods for complementary feeding in South Asia

“…5 One of the main explanations is that complementary foods and feeding practices in early life are not supplying sufficient essential nutrients for healthy growth and development. 6 , 7 In South Asia, only 20% of children aged 6–23 months consume a diet that meets minimum diversity requirements, only 25% consume nondairy animal source foods, and less than half of all children consume vegetables or fruits daily. 7…”