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Associations between the infant and young child feeding index and nutritional status

Patcharapa Thaweekul1,2, Phakatip Sinlapamongkolkul1, Jutamat Tonglim2,3

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand.

Pediatrics International : Official Journal of the Japan Pediatric Society
|December 8, 2020
PubMed

Insights

The Infant and Child Feeding Index (ICFI) showed a negative association with nutritional status in Thai children. Breastfeeding may mask some feeding practice effects, indicating ICFI alone may not fully reflect a child's nutritional health.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Nutrition
  • Public Health
  • Child Development

Background:

  • The Infant and Child Feeding Index (ICFI) is a WHO-influenced tool for assessing feeding quality in children aged 6-36 months.
  • Understanding the relationship between feeding practices and nutritional status is crucial for child health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate associations between the ICFI and various nutritional status indicators in a Thai pediatric population.
  • To evaluate the utility of the ICFI as a standalone measure of infant and child nutritional well-being.

Main Methods:

  • A cross-sectional study involving 304 healthy infants and children aged 6-36 months in Thailand.
  • Data collection included parent/caregiver questionnaires on feeding practices and anthropometric measurements.
  • Statistical analysis examined correlations between the ICFI and Z-scores for weight-for-age (WAZ), length/height-for-age (LAZ/HAZ), weight-for-length/height (WLZ/WHZ), and BMI-for-age (BAZ).

Main Results:

  • The mean ICFI was 6.14 ± 1.63, with the lowest scores in the 6-8 months age group.
  • Breastfed infants exhibited significantly higher ICFI scores compared to non-breastfed infants.
  • The ICFI demonstrated a negative association with WAZ, WLZ/WHZ, and BAZ (p < 0.05). Breastfeeding also showed negative associations with WAZ, LAZ/HAZ, WLZ/WHZ, and BAZ.

Conclusions:

  • A negative association exists between the ICFI and measured nutritional status indicators.
  • Breastfeeding and dairy consumption might influence ICFI scores, potentially masking or altering the apparent relationship with nutritional status.
  • The ICFI may reflect feeding behaviors but should not be used in isolation to determine a child's nutritional status.
Abstract

Keywords:
complementary feedingfeeding indexfeeding practiceinfant nutritionnutritional status

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