Infant and Young Child Feeding Index and its association with nutritional status: A cross-sectional study of urban slums of Ahmedabad

BACKGROUND: Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices are multidimensional and change rapidly in short intervals in the 1(st) year of life, asking for simultaneous assessment of various feeding dimensions in children of 6 months and older. Infant and Child Feeding Index (ICFI) is a composite index which measures complete feeding practices for infants and young children. The present study was conducted to assess IYCF practices for children aged 6–36 months in terms of ICFI and some sociodemographic factors and find out the association of ICFI with nutritional status. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2015 to October 2015 in Girdharnagar ward of Ahmedabad. Two hundred and ten mother–child pairs were selected by two-staged cluster sampling and were interviewed using a schedule adapted from Knowledge, Practices, and Coverage 2000+ model questionnaire. Appropriate anthropometric measurements were taken and nutritional indicators were calculated. Chi-square test, t- test, and regression analysis were applied wherever required. Epi info version 7.0 and MS Excel 2007 were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Nearly 65.2% of the children were stunted, 43.3% were underweight, and 11.9% were wasted. Only 38.3% of the children were initiated on breastfeeding within 1 h of birth. Only 19.1% of the children were breastfed for 2 years and beyond. Meal frequency was adequate in 64.3% and dietary diversity of >4 food groups was given to only 15.7% of the children. Significant higher proportions of children with low ICFI scores had illiterate mothers, were older, and belonged to lower socioeconomic strata. There was statistically significant association of ICFI with all the three nutritional status indicators. Higher proportion of children with lower ICFI scores had lower weight-for-height Z-scores, weight-for-age Z-scores, and height-for-age Z-scores. CONCLUSION: The present study revealed that ICFI can be used to measure IYCF practices in a single composite index, which in turn can reflect the nutritional status of the children.