Revista de Nutrição e Ciências Alimentares
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Abstrato

Sub-Optimal Complementary Feeding Practices and Anaemia of Children 6-24 Months in Tolon District of Northern Ghana

Faisal A Nuru-Ahmed*, Paul Armah Aryee, Adumbireh A Cupid

Background: Suboptimal complementary feeding practices have been identified as one of the leading contributors to malnutrition in children within the first 1000 days of life. The most vulnerable period within this time is the complementary feeding period. This stage is usually characterized by increased energy and nutrient demands by the child. The inability of caregivers to respond to these increases eventually leads to underweight, wasting, stunting and micronutrient deficiencies. The main objective of the study was to identify sub-standard complementary feeding practices and their impact on anaemia status of children 6-24 months. Three hundred and eighty-four respondents made up of children and their caregivers were sampled across 10 health facilities in the Tolon district of Northern Ghana.

Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study design was adopted for 384 children and their caregivers in health facilities in the district. Multistage sampling technique involving Quota sampling and simple random sampling using coin toss was used to select respondents. Data collected included maternal demographic characteristics, IYCF feeding practices, 24 hrs dietary recall, anthropometric measurements of children and anaemia status of children.

Results: Anaemia in the study setting was very high (93%) and particularly higher among children within the age bracket of 10-17 months. There was no statistically significant relationship between anaemia and amount of food consumed, preference of the child and frequency of feeding. Multivariate analyses of predictors using binary logistic regression revealed a significant relationship between anaemia and minimum dietary diversity (p=0.001), child’s age (p=0.02), continuous breastfeeding at 6 months (p=0.001) and previous history of malaria infection in children (p=0.01).

Conclusion: The study has exposed the impact of dietary diversity and continuous breastfeeding after 6 months as the two most significant complementary feeding practices contributing to anaemia among children 6-24 months in the Tolon district of Northern Ghana. It was therefore recommended that caregivers should be educated on the benefits of continuous breastfeeding as well as dietary diversification using locally available foods during IYCF counselling.