Determinants of Complementary Feeding Practices among Children Aged 6-23: a Community based Study

Background Complementary feeding practices play an important role in growth and development of the children. This study aimed to determine the complementary feeding practices status among children aged 6- 23 months and its association with various socio- demographic factors. Materials and Methods This community based cross-sectional study was conducted at field practice area of Urban Health Centers in Khalkhal city, North West of Iran. In the preset study 576 mothers of children aged 6-23 months were selected with multistage random sampling method and interviewed using structured questionnaire for Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) indicators (minimum dietary diversity (MDD), minimum meal frequency (MMF), and minimum acceptable diet (MAD). Data were analyzed with using SPSS-20.0, Chi-square, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression tests. Results Findings showed that MDD, MMF and MAD were adequate in 42.3%, 42.7% and 30.9%, respectively. MDD and MAD was significantly associated with gender of child, type of delivery, birth order of child, mothers literacy and health literacy (P<0.001); MMF was significantly associated with health literacy and literacy status of mother, birth order of child (P<0.001). Conclusion The study revealed that majority of mothers practiced inadequate complementary feeding. The feeding practices were found to be significantly associated with various socio- demographic factors which highlighted the importance of addressing these factors for improvement of feeding practices and prevention of various health related problems among children.