Effects of Complementary Feeding Counseling on Appropriate Complementary Feeding Practices and Child Undernutrition

Effects of Complementary Feeding Counseling on Appropriate Complementary Feeding Practices and Child Undernutrition in West Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Appropriate complementary feeding practices as per the World Health Organization recommendations is a window of opportunity to promote health and prevent acute and chronic undernutrition (stunting, wasting & underweight). Globally, the burden of undernutrition remains unacceptably high, and the progress of undernutrition reduction is unsatisfactorily slow. In Ethiopia, appropriate complementary feeding practices of mothers to their children are very low. In contrast, child undernutrition is a major public health problem.

Appropriate nutrition during the first 1000 days of life lays the foundation for a child's health and well-being. Introduction of complementary foods within 6-8 months of age and step-wise increase of diversified plant and animal-based diets is necessary, for which exclusive breast milk is no longer enough to meet the nutritional needs. Appropriate complementary feeding practices as per the World Health Organization recommendations is a window of opportunity to promote health and prevent acute and chronic undernutrition (stunting, wasting & underweight). Globally, the burden of undernutrition remains unacceptably high, and the progress of undernutrition reduction is unsatisfactorily slow. In Ethiopia, appropriate complementary feeding practices of mothers to their children are very low. In contrast, child undernutrition is a major public health problem. This study aims to determine the effects of complementary feeding counseling on appropriate complementary feeding practices and child undernutrition through a community-based randomized controlled trial.

Criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Mother-child pairs whose children are 6 months old.
2. Mother-child pairs who reside in the study area for at least 6 months before the survey.
3. Mother-child pairs who have no intention of leaving the study area during the intervention period.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Mothers with severe mental illness or who are unable to communicate (e.g., deaf).
2. Mother-child pairs with severe congenital malformations of their children.