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Effectiveness of Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) on complementary feeding in Koibatek, Kenya: a randomized
Mildred Maingi1, Judith Kimiywe2, Sharon Iron-Segev3
1School of Nutritional Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and The International School of Agricultural Sciences, P.O Box 12-761001, Rehovot, Israel. maingimildred@gmail.com.
Insights
The Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) significantly improved complementary feeding practices in rural Kenya. This community-based approach enhances child nutrition where hospital initiatives are less accessible.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Nutrition Science
- Global Health
Background:
- Optimal infant and young child nutrition is crucial for development.
- The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) promotes breastfeeding but has limited reach in areas with high home birth rates.
- Kenya is implementing the Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) to support infant feeding in rural communities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the effectiveness of the Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) on complementary feeding practices.
- To compare complementary feeding practices in children aged 6-23 months between BFCI intervention and control groups in rural Kenya.
Main Methods:
- A randomized control study design was employed.
- 270 mother-infant pairs in Koibatek, Kenya, were enrolled in the BFCI project.
- Data was collected using structured questionnaires.
Main Results:
- The BFCI intervention group showed significantly higher rates of minimum dietary diversity (77% vs. 58%), minimum meal frequency (96% vs. 89%), and minimum acceptable diet (77% vs. 61%) compared to the control group.
- Children in the intervention group had significantly higher odds of achieving minimum dietary diversity (OR: 4.95), minimum meal frequency (OR: 14.84), and minimum acceptable diet (OR: 4.61).
Conclusions:
- The BFCI intervention effectively improved complementary feeding practices in rural Kenya.
- Strengthening and prioritizing BFCI interventions can significantly impact child health outcomes in similar settings.
Background:
Appropriate infant and young child nutrition is critical for proper growth and development. In order to promote optimal nutrition at an early age, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF have developed the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) to address poor breastfeeding practices in maternity wards. However, impact is limited in less developed countries like Kenya, where more than half of all births are home deliveries. Therefore, Kenya has explored the adoption of Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) in its rural settings. In contrast to the BFHI, the BFCI supports breastfeeding and optimal infant feeding in community. BFCI has been implemented in Koibatek, in rural Kenya. This study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of BFCI on complementary feeding practices of children aged 6-23 months, by comparing intervention and control groups.
Methods:
This was a randomized control study design that included 270 mother-infant pairs enrolled in the Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) project in Koibatek. Evaluation was carried out using structured questionnaires.
Results:
A statistically significantly higher proportion of children in the intervention group compared to the control group attained minimum dietary diversity (77% vs. 58%; p = 0.001), minimum meal frequency (96% vs. 89%; p = 0.046) and minimum acceptable diet (77% vs. 61%; p = 0.005). The odds of attaining minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency and minimum acceptable diet were statistically significantly higher for the intervention group compared to control group (OR: 4.95; 95%CI 2.44-10.03, p = < 0.001; OR: 14.84; 95%CI 2.75-79.9, p = 0.002; OR: 4.61; 95%CI 2.17-9.78, p = < 0.001 respectively).
Conclusion:
The BFCI intervention was successful in improving complementary feeding practices. Strengthening and prioritizing BFCI interventions could have a significant impact on child health outcomes in rural Kenya.
Trial Registration:
ISRCTN03467700 . Registration 24 September 2014. Retrospectively registered.
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