Child Feeding Practices
Return to Kenya QuestionsTo achieve good feeding for a growing infant, it is important to support exclusive breastfeeding in the first 4 – 6 months as well as ensuring proper complementary feeding practices for children 6 months or more. A child at 6 months of age cannot sustain adequate growth and maintain good health unless additional foods that are appropriate for a young child are introduced. These foods should be soft and palatable for the child in the first couple of months for complementary feeding, and then solid foods can be slowly introduced. It is also important to introduce nutrient rich foods that sustain the child’s needs for calories and micronutrients.
In Eastern Kenya, it will be important to identify the foods that are typically introduced to children and then determine the ages at which the children are receiving the foods. There could be some foods that are unique to Kenya or the region that need to be included as a complementary food, such as uji (porridge). The micronutrient adequacy of the foods will actually not be analyzed in this particular exercise, but it is important to be mindful of the significance of the food quality. The micronutrient needs should also be addressed at some point in the data analysis.
The best method for completing this exercise is to open the sub-module on CHILD FEEDING and complete the step-by-step exercise. If you have already completed this exercise and would like to see the interpretation of the results, continue on to see The Kenya East feeding profile:
CLICK HERE to link to the Child Feeding Submodule.
The Feeding Profile:
Comparison with the WHO recommended feeding profile below:
WHO Recommended Profile:
INTERPRETATION:
The first problem with the feeding profile in Eastern Kenya is the low number of exclusively breasted children. It appears that approximately 60% are giving their children breast milk along with supplementary liquid, predominantly water but also a few are given other sources of milk. Approximately 3% do not ever receive breast milk and 3% receive breast milk along with porridge from birth. So it appears that unnecessary exposure to pathogens from food other than breast milk is a pervasive problem since 3 out of 4 newborns are given foods other than mother’s milk.
The second deviation from the recommended feeding profile is the continued problem of children exposed to foods other than mother’s milk during month 3 to 5, which is only fifty percent in the WHO recommended feeding profile and is 96-97% in the Kenya profile. What this appears to say, is that the Kenyan children are not exclusively breastfed from 0-4 months and then given complementary foods beginning at 4 – 6 months as is recommended. They are given other foods and liquids, often from birth, and unfortunately the 3 – 4 % that are exclusively breastfed up to 4 – 6 months are not given complementary feeding at the proper time. It also appears that between 6-11 months there are about 20% of the children that are only given water and milk for complementary feeding, whereas more substantial supplements are needed such as porridge (uji).
The third note to make on problems with the Kenya Feeding Profile is the "continuation" of breastfeeding past the age of 24 months. Although it is not necessary to stop breastfeeding and it is not harmful for a child to receive mother’s milk past 24 months, it is more likely that if a child is receiving adequate amounts of other foods then they will not request to breastfeed at this age. In Kenya at the age of 24 months, nearly 70% of the children are still breastfeeding. It is possible that these children are not receiving adequate supplementation since they continue to request breast milk.
Once these problems are detected through the feeding profile, it is more likely that program efforts can hone in on the particular feeding changes that should occur. In Eastern Kenya, one important effort would be to inform mothers that giving a child water or sugar water in the first four months is both unnecessary and potential harmful to the child. It could reduce illness dramatically if mothers give only breast milk to the baby up to four months of age. Education is a key component for improving breastfeeding practices. In terms of complementary feeding, it is important to ensure that the quality of the complementary foods being used sufficient to support the growing child.