Complementary Feeding-A Challenge to Be Addressed in Rural Uttar Pradesh

Sir, Lack of appropriate complementary feeding (CF), defined as one which is timely, adequate, safe and properly fed (WHO, 2001), is a problem which directly or indirectly contributes to malnutrition, infectious illness and mortality in infants. The incidence of malnutrition rises sharply between the ages of 6-18 months (WHO, 2001) with maximum undernutrition occurring at 8-11 months of age (Vir, 2001). The NFHS-2 (1998-99) also reports a 5 fold increase in undernutrition prevalence from 6 months to 23 months of age. A formative study was undertaken in 6 villages of District Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh with the objective to understand the current complementary feeding practices and assess the malnutrition status in rural Uttar Pradesh with specific focus on identifying the barriers and promoters to the appropriate CF practices. A total of 151 mothers of infants aged 6-12 months were randomly identified through anganwadi center records. Detailed information was gathered from mothers and other caretakers of infants on their breast feeding (BF) and CF practices using a pretested interview schedule. Anthropometric measurements taken were weight (using digital weighing scale: 5 g sensitivity) and length (using infantometer: 0.1 cm sensitivity). Dietary data on intake from complementary food was collected using 24-hour recall and past 7-days food frequency record. It was observed that only a fifth (21%) of the mothers initiated BF within an hour of birth, due to age old beliefs and 76 % mothers reported giving pre-lacteals like jaggery, sugar syrup, tea and ‘batasha ’ syrup, considering these as