Exclusive Breastfeeding, Minimum Acceptable Diet, and Nutritional Status of Children: The Case of Selected West African Countries

OBJECTIVES: Adequate Nutrition remains a major determinant of childhood nutritional status. Minimum acceptable diet which is a composite indicator of minimum dietary diversity and minimum meal frequency, continues to impact the health of children in sub-Saharan African countries. An assessment of health surveys in selected West African countries gives a picture of the status and the performance of these countries with regards to the achievement of the sustainable development goals for improvement in the nutritional status of children. METHODS: Data related to breastfeeding, minimum acceptable diet and nutritional status of children was obtained from Demographic Health Survey (DHS) conducted in 2018 and 2019 in Nigeria, Liberia, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone. The DHS is a descriptive cross-sectional survey, adopted both clustered and systematic sampling techniques, and utilized both interview and 24-hour recall methods to collect necessary data of children (6–24 months) recruited from selected households in each country from which frequencies and percentages are generated. RESULTS: Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding was 55%, 54%, 54% and 24% in Liberia, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria respectively. Overall, in Liberia, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria, only 3%, 14%, 9% and 11% of children 6–23 months respectively met the minimum acceptable diet. With respect to nutritional status, 30%, 18%, 30% and 37% of children under 5 years were stunted in Liberia, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria respectively. Wasting was observed among 3%, 5%, %% and 7% of the children in the countries respectively. Additionally, underweight was observed among 11%, 12%, 14% and 22% in the countries respectively. Only 4%, 2%, 5% and 2% were overweight respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Exclusive breastfeeding, minimum acceptable diet, and the nutritional status of children in each of the countries were grossly inadequate with varying degrees, typical of many sub-Saharan countries. For the sustainable development goal 3 to be met, it would be expedient to design nutrition education and feeding programs that could improve the nutritional status of children 0–24 months with a prospect of improving the futuristic health status of individuals in the countries. FUNDING SOURCES: The DHS is USAID funded. Further analysis of the data and preparation of the publication is being personally funded.