Abstract Digest
Issue 7, January 2011
In each issue of Abstract Digest, Alive & Thrive summarizes recently published research, highlighting key information about infant and young child feeding practices as well as program implications. Clicking on the title will take you to the longer A&T summary.
Feeding a child only breast milk for the first 6 months improves the child’s and mother’s health. A randomized controlled study of adolescent mothers in Brazil showed that breastfeeding and complementary feeding counseling helped prevent the introduction of foods other than breast milk before 4 months of age.
Kangaroo Mother Care, the placement of clinically stabilized infants in continuous skin-to-skin contact with a mother, is believed to have positive effects on newborn health and survival. Previously published results of a randomized controlled trial conducted in rural Bangladesh showed no difference in newborn mortality between infants of mothers in the community-based kangaroo mother care (CKMC) group and those who were not part of the CKMC group. New analyses of data from the same study showed that spending 7 or more hours per day of skin-to-skin contact during the first 2 days of life was associated with better infant survival. Mothers who interacted with a community health worker during pregnancy were more likely to spend more time in skin-to-skin than those without this interaction. The results highlight the importance of ensuring support from community workers who are trained to promote adequate duration of skin-to-skin contact within a CKMC program.
A qualitative study of Ghanaian mothers identified 3 primary factors that influenced mothers’ complementary feeding decisions and behaviors: their desire to further the child’s health, well-being and development; the cost of complementary foods; and the time needed to acquire and prepare complementary food.
The development, marketing, and advocacy of a powdered complementary food supplement (Ying Yang Bao (YYB)) along with the provision of information on optimal feeding practices, was associated with an increase in the prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding, dietary diversity, and consumption of iron-rich food in the targeted rural counties in China. Children of caregivers who purchased YYB were less likely to have anemia than children of caregivers who did not purchase the product, but because only 14% of caregivers purchased YYB, there was no impact on the prevalence of anemia in the study group as a whole.
A randomized controlled safety trial compared two groups of 12-24-month old anemic, underweight children in Bangladesh. One group received an iron-containing micronutrient powder (MNP) and another a placebo powder daily for 2 months. Contrary to some previous studies, the results showed that the iron MNP did not increase risk of infection. While the iron MNP did not have an impact on growth, it did improve hemoglobin concentration and this difference was still significant 4 months after MNP use ended.