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Do child feeding practices change due to diarrhoea in the Central Peruvian Highlands?
S L Huffman1, G Lopez de Romana, S Madrid
1Center to Prevent Childhood Malnutrition, Bethesda, MD 20814.
Insights
Mothers in Peru often report changing infant feeding during diarrhea, but actual food types offered remain similar. This suggests an opportunity to improve child nutrition and weaning practices by focusing on complementary foods.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Nutrition Science
Background:
- Diarrhea is a prevalent childhood illness in the highlands of central Peru.
- Understanding feeding practices during childhood illness is crucial for nutritional outcomes.
- Previous research indicates a gap between caretaker perceptions and actual feeding behaviors during pediatric illness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the relationship between infant feeding practices and diarrhea incidence in young children (0-3 years) in central Peru.
- To investigate discrepancies between reported and actual food offerings to children experiencing diarrhea.
- To identify potential intervention points for improving child nutrition and weaning practices.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 2,599 children aged 0-3 years in the highlands of central Peru.
- Data collection focused on feeding practices, caretaker reports of food offered, and child illness status (diarrhea).
- Analysis compared reported feeding intentions with observed food provision during diarrheal episodes.
Main Results:
- A high prevalence of diarrhea was observed, with 18% of children experiencing it the day prior to assessment.
- Despite caretaker reports of intending to offer different foods, the types of foods actually provided to children with diarrhea showed minimal change.
- Mothers reported a decrease in appetite for non-human milk and solid foods, but not breastmilk, in children with diarrhea.
Conclusions:
- Mothers' concern over reduced appetite in sick children presents a key opportunity for intervention.
- Promoting improved complementary foods and feeding practices during and after diarrhea can enhance overall weaning practices in Peru.
- Interventions should address both caretaker knowledge and actual feeding behaviors to improve child nutritional status.
Abstract:
This study assessed feeding practices in relation to diarrhoea among 2,599 children, aged 0-3 years, in the highlands of central Peru. A high prevalence of diarrhoea was observed, with 18% of the children ill with diarrhoea the preceding day. With few exceptions, the presence of diarrhoea did not alter the types of foods actually offered to young children. Caretakers, however, reported that children with diarrhoea should be given different foods. Appetite for breastmilk was reported by mothers to remain normal for children with diarrhoea; however, appetite for nonhuman milk and solid food was reported to decrease substantially. Since data on amounts of food consumed were not collected, whether the total nutrient intake was reduced due to decreases in amounts of food consumed can not be determined from this study. The major findings are that although mothers report reducing the types of foods offered to their sick infants, in actuality the types of foods offered vary little during illness. However, because mothers are quite concerned about the lack of appetite among young children, they may be particularly amenable to changing feeding practices following diarrhoea episodes. The promotion of improved complementary foods and feeding practices during and after diarrhoea may be an ideal method by which to improve weaning practices in Peru.