Interventions to improve infant and young child feeding practices in Ethiopia: a systematic review

Abstract

ObjectiveIn Ethiopia, despite the implementation of several interventions to improve infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices, no published studies have highlighted the most effective IYCF interventions in the country. This systematic review investigated the impacts of various interventions on IYCF in Ethiopia.Source of informationA systematic search was conducted on seven computerised bibliographic databases (Embase, ProQuest Central, Scopus, PsycINFO, Web of Science, MEDLINE/PubMed and CINAHL) to locate experimental or quasi-experimental studies published between the year 2000 and May 2021.Study eligibility criteriaInterventional studies that measured IYCF indicators (early initiation of breast feeding (EIBF), exclusive breast feeding (EBF), the introduction of complementary foods, minimum dietary diversity (MDD), minimum meal frequency (MMF) and minimum acceptable diet) as outcome variables were included.Study appraisal and synthesisAll included studies were examined for biases related to interventional studies (ie, selection bias, performance bias, attrition bias, detection bias and reporting bias). Author reports of effect size measures were used to narratively report the findings of each study.ResultsOf the 23 eligible studies, 14 studies were quasi-experimental and 9 studies were cluster randomised trials (CRTs). Eight quasi-experimental studies had a serious risk of bias, while two CRTs had a high risk of bias. Four studies for EBF and six studies for EIBF showed significant impacts of policy advocacy, health service strengthening, interpersonal communication, community mobilisation and mass media campaigns. Six studies for MDD and three studies for MMF indicated significant effects of community-level and health facility complementary feeding promotions on infants and young children. Interventions that delivered in combination increased the impacts in improving EIBF, MDD and MMF compared with a single intervention.ConclusionOur review showed that 12 out of 21 eligible studies that implemented in the form of community-level and health facility interventions improved EIBF, EBF, and/or MDD in Ethiopia.Protocol registration numberPROSPERO, CRD42020155519.

The effectiveness of a WeChat-based self-assessment with a tailored feedback report on improving complementary feeding and movement behaviour of children aged 6–20 months in rural China: a cluster randomized controlled trial

“…Exposure to more than one IYCF intervention delivering through different platforms has been proven to be more successful in improving IYCF outcomes compared with a single form of intervention delivered at a single setting. 4 Interventions delivered through multiple settings may have an increased intensity that can be translated into behavioural changes due to repeated contacts and adequate coverage of interventions. 36 Caregivers’ information sources in our study were 60% from health facilities and 10% from new media.…”

“…It also reduces the risk of chronic non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, in later life. 3 , 4 , 5 …”

Effect of enhanced nutrition services with community‐based nutrition services on the diet quality of young children in Ethiopia

“…Others have shown that large‐scale social and behaviour change communication interventions were linked to improvements in IYCF practices in Ethiopia (Kim et al, 2016 ). Interventions on IYCF practices should be done along the continuum of care, from conception until a child's second birthday (Ahmed et al, 2021 ). Having the IYCF message also come from HEWs or AEWs may help to reinforce the positive message and promote a healthy diet to children in a rural setting of Ethiopia.…”

Interventions to improve the nutritional status of children under 5 years in Ethiopia: a systematic review

“…A three-stage search strategy was implemented to locate both peer-reviewed articles and grey literatures, consistent with prior systematic reviews (30–32) . In stage one, we conducted a manual search to check for previously published systematic reviews of interventions on childhood malnutrition in Ethiopia.…”