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Comparisons of complementary feeding indicators among children aged 6-23 months in Anglophone and Francophone West
Abukari I Issaka1, Kingsley E Agho2, Andrew N Page2
1School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia.
Insights
Complementary feeding practices are suboptimal in West Africa, with Anglophone countries showing better rates than Francophone countries for key indicators. All countries fall short of World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, necessitating interventions to improve child nutrition.
Area of Science:
- Public Health Nutrition
- Child Health
- West African Health Systems
Background:
- Stunting in West Africa is linked to inadequate complementary feeding.
- Significant disparities in complementary feeding indicators exist between Anglophone and Francophone West African countries.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare complementary feeding indicator rates in children aged 6-23 months.
- To assess adherence to World Health Organization (WHO) recommended practices across Anglophone and Francophone West African nations.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from Demographic and Health Surveys (2006-2013) across 11 West African countries.
- Analyzed complementary feeding indicators for 34,999 children aged 6-23 months.
- Applied the WHO's 2008 methodology for assessing complementary feeding.
Main Results:
- Anglophone countries generally exhibited higher rates for introduction of solids, minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency, and minimum acceptable diet compared to Francophone countries.
- Rates for all indicators in both country groups were below WHO optimal practice requirements.
- For example, minimum dietary diversity averaged 32.0% in Anglophone countries versus 10.6% in Francophone countries.
Conclusions:
- Current complementary feeding practices in West Africa are insufficient to meet WHO standards.
- Urgent need for targeted intervention studies, such as cluster-randomised controlled trials, to improve child nutritional status.
- Addressing disparities between Anglophone and Francophone countries may be crucial for effective public health strategies.
Abstract:
Stunting, a consequence of suboptimal complementary feeding practices, continues to be a significant public health problem in West Africa. This paper aimed to compare rates of complementary feeding indicators among children aged 6-23 months between four Anglophone and seven Francophone West African countries. The data used for this study were the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys of the various countries, namely Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone (Anglophone countries), Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Senegal (Francophone countries) conducted between 2006 and 2013. The analyses were limited to last-born children aged 6-23 months and covered 34 999 children: 12 623 in the Anglophone countries and 22 376 children in the Francophone countries. Complementary feeding indicators were examined using the method proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2008. Introduction of solid, semi-solid or soft foods among children aged 6-23 months in the Anglophone countries ranged from 55.3% (Liberia) to 72.6% (Ghana). The corresponding rates for the Francophone countries ranged from 29.7% (Mali) to 65.9% (Senegal). The average rate of minimum dietary diversity for the Anglophone countries was 32.0% while that of the Francophone countries was only 10.6%. While the minimum meal frequency rates ranged between 42.0% (Sierra Leone) and 55.3% (Nigeria) for the Anglophone countries, the corresponding rates for the Francophone countries ranged between 25.1% (Mali) and 52.4% (Niger). Both the Anglophone and the Francophone countries reported alarmingly low rates of minimum acceptable diet, with the two groups of countries averaging rates of 19.9% (Anglophone) and 5.5% (Francophone). The rates of all four complementary feeding indicators across all the 11 countries fell short of the WHO's requirement for optimal complementary feeding practices. Intervention studies using cluster-randomised controlled trials are needed in order to improve the nutritional status of young children in West Africa.
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