Child feeding practices and nutritional status of children aged 6–23 months in Nigeria: a multi-site survey

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Poor nutrition during early childhood affects growth/development and increases the risk of morbidity and mortality. This study assessed child feeding practices and the nutritional status of children from selected Nigerian tertiary health institutions. METHODS: This study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design to digitally elicit responses from 1,295 mothers and child pairs accessing welfare services at four tertiary health institutions in Nigeria. Harmonized indicators such as Infant and Young Child Feeding Index (ICFI), WHO/UNICEF Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) Practices Indicators, and WHO growth standards were used to evaluate the children's feeding practices and anthropometric status. All descriptive and bivariate analysis (Fisher-Exact test) were done using IBM SPSS for Windows 25. RESULTS: The study revealed that while 80.7% and 86.9% of the children met the minimum meal frequency and age-appropriate complementary feeding introduction criteria, breastfeeding initiation (48.5%), exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rates (68.4%) and diversified food intake were suboptimal. However, 44.1% of children with stunting and 44.1% of children with overweight/obesity were identified. Exclusive breastfeeding was positively associated with BMI-for-age (OR = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.06-2.16; p = 0.02). Current breastfeeding status was also significantly associated with height-for-age (OR = 0.54; 95% CI: 0.37-0.78; p < 0.001) and BMI-for-age (OR = 1.78; 95% CI: 1.23-2.58; p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Several aspects of the children's feeding practices were sub-optimal, nutritional status was polarized, with many children affected by stunting and overweight/obesity. Interventions tailored towards strengthening breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices are critical for improving nutrition outcomes.