Determining the Relationship of Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices and Nutritional Status among children 6 to 23 months in Uganda

Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) is a key component of child health. Recently indicators were developed by the WHO to assess IYCF practices in diverse populations. We used data from the 2006 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey to examine the associations between IYCF practices and child nutritional status (n=777) and to assess predictors of IYCF practices (n=2,249) using multivariate regression. Feeding the minimum daily frequency was associated with higher mean weight‐for‐age (−0.90 vs −1.24, p=0.001), length‐for‐age (−1.21 vs −1.52, p=0.010), and weight‐for‐length (−0.35, vs −0.61, p=0.019) Z scores for breastfed, but not non‐breastfed children. Indicators for minimum dietary diversity and “minimally acceptable diet” were not associated with any Z scores differences. IYCF practices did not predict whether children were classified as underweight, stunted, or wasted. Care seeking for diarrhea [OR (95% CI)= 0.38 (0.15, 0.94)], having no maternal education [OR=0.56 (0.36, 0.88)] and being in the poorest 40% of households [OR=0.40 (0.19, 0.87)] were significant predictors of failure to feed a “minimally acceptable diet.” In this context, the IYCF indicators had limited associations with anthropometric measures, indicating that more precise indicators may be necessary to identify children at risk for undernutrition. Funded by ORC Macro and NIH.