Infant and Young Child Feeding
Well over two-thirds of malnutrition-related infant and child deaths are associated with poor feeding practices during the first two years of life. Within this time period, the sharpest increase in malnutrition occurs between six and 24 months of age, the time when children grow most rapidly.
This situation is exacerbated by the fact that less than a third of infants in most countries are exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life. Early cessation of breastfeeding, with complementary foods introduced too early or too late, is too common, especially for infants who are at highest risk of mortality because of their exposure to disease and limited access to health services. Often complementary foods are nutritionally inadequate and unsafe.
Malnourished children are more frequently sick and suffer the lifelong consequences of impaired development. Empirical studies have shown that exclusively breastfed infants have 2.5 times fewer episodes of childhood diseases, that they are four times less likely to die of acute respiratory infection, and that they are up to 25 times less likely to die of diarrheal diseases. Continued breastfeeding during acute episodes of diarrhea clearly protects a child against the overall reduction of energy and protein consumption during illness.
Programs to ensure adequate nutrition, such as optimal breastfeeding and complementary feeding, in this age group are essential for improving maternal and child health. USAID has supported the development and implementation of a number of programming approaches to improve infant and young child feeding (IYCF) in the context of a broader Essential Nutrition Actions (ENAs) framework, which promotes key practices focused on breastfeeding, complementary feeding, nutritional management of sick children, maternal nutrition, vitamin A, iron and iodine.
Interventions
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