Evaluating the Effect of Appropriate Complementary Feeding Practices on Child Growth in Malawi Using Cross-Sectional Data: An Application of Propensity Score Matching

Introduction: Appropriate complementary foods have been found to provide infants and young children with nutritional needs for their growth and development. In the absence of a randomized control trial (RCT), this study used observational data to evaluate the effect of appropriate complementary feed...

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Autores principales:	Halima S. Twabi, Samuel O. M. Manda, Dylan S. Small
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	average treatment effect child growth and nutrition complementary feeding practices Sub-Saharan Africa propensity score matching quasi-experimental method Nutrition. Foods and food supply TX341-641
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/04e1b1b8f6c34be4b20923908570980b
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:04e1b1b8f6c34be4b20923908570980b2021-11-18T09:53:30ZEvaluating the Effect of Appropriate Complementary Feeding Practices on Child Growth in Malawi Using Cross-Sectional Data: An Application of Propensity Score Matching2296-861X10.3389/fnut.2021.714232https://doaj.org/article/04e1b1b8f6c34be4b20923908570980b2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.714232/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2296-861XIntroduction: Appropriate complementary foods have been found to provide infants and young children with nutritional needs for their growth and development. In the absence of a randomized control trial (RCT), this study used observational data to evaluate the effect of appropriate complementary feeding practices on the nutritional status of children aged 6–23 months in Malawi using a propensity score matching statistical technique.Methods: Data on 4,722 children aged 6 to 23 months from the 2015–16 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) were analyzed. Appropriate complementary feeding practices were assessed using the core indicators recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and consist of the introduction of complementary feeding, minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency and minimum acceptable diet based on a dietary intake during a most recent 24-h period.Results: The prevalence of stunting (height-for-age z-score < −2 SD) was 31.9% (95% CI: 29.3%, 34.6%), wasting (weight-for-height z-score < −2 SD) 3.5% (95% CI: 2.6%, 4.7%) and underweight (weight-for-age z-score < −2 SD) 9.9% (95% CI: 8.4%, 11.8%). Of the 4,722 children, 7.7% (95% CI: 6.9%, 8.5%) were provided appropriate complementary foods. Appropriate complementary feeding practices were found to result in significant decrease in stunting (OR = 0.7, 95% CI: 0.4, 0.95). They also resulted in the decrease of wasting (OR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.1, 1.7) and underweight (OR = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.2, 1.7).Conclusion: Appropriate complementary feeding practices resulted in a reduction of stunting, wasting, and underweight among children 6 to 23 months of age in Malawi. We recommend the continued provision of appropriate complementary foods to infants and young children to ensure that the diet has adequate nutritional needs for their healthy growth.Halima S. TwabiSamuel O. M. MandaSamuel O. M. MandaDylan S. SmallFrontiers Media S.A.articleaverage treatment effectchild growth and nutritioncomplementary feeding practicesSub-Saharan Africapropensity score matchingquasi-experimental methodNutrition. Foods and food supplyTX341-641ENFrontiers in Nutrition, Vol 8 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	average treatment effect child growth and nutrition complementary feeding practices Sub-Saharan Africa propensity score matching quasi-experimental method Nutrition. Foods and food supply TX341-641
spellingShingle	average treatment effect child growth and nutrition complementary feeding practices Sub-Saharan Africa propensity score matching quasi-experimental method Nutrition. Foods and food supply TX341-641 Halima S. Twabi Samuel O. M. Manda Samuel O. M. Manda Dylan S. Small Evaluating the Effect of Appropriate Complementary Feeding Practices on Child Growth in Malawi Using Cross-Sectional Data: An Application of Propensity Score Matching
description	Introduction: Appropriate complementary foods have been found to provide infants and young children with nutritional needs for their growth and development. In the absence of a randomized control trial (RCT), this study used observational data to evaluate the effect of appropriate complementary feeding practices on the nutritional status of children aged 6–23 months in Malawi using a propensity score matching statistical technique.Methods: Data on 4,722 children aged 6 to 23 months from the 2015–16 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) were analyzed. Appropriate complementary feeding practices were assessed using the core indicators recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and consist of the introduction of complementary feeding, minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency and minimum acceptable diet based on a dietary intake during a most recent 24-h period.Results: The prevalence of stunting (height-for-age z-score < −2 SD) was 31.9% (95% CI: 29.3%, 34.6%), wasting (weight-for-height z-score < −2 SD) 3.5% (95% CI: 2.6%, 4.7%) and underweight (weight-for-age z-score < −2 SD) 9.9% (95% CI: 8.4%, 11.8%). Of the 4,722 children, 7.7% (95% CI: 6.9%, 8.5%) were provided appropriate complementary foods. Appropriate complementary feeding practices were found to result in significant decrease in stunting (OR = 0.7, 95% CI: 0.4, 0.95). They also resulted in the decrease of wasting (OR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.1, 1.7) and underweight (OR = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.2, 1.7).Conclusion: Appropriate complementary feeding practices resulted in a reduction of stunting, wasting, and underweight among children 6 to 23 months of age in Malawi. We recommend the continued provision of appropriate complementary foods to infants and young children to ensure that the diet has adequate nutritional needs for their healthy growth.
format	article
author	Halima S. Twabi Samuel O. M. Manda Samuel O. M. Manda Dylan S. Small
author_facet	Halima S. Twabi Samuel O. M. Manda Samuel O. M. Manda Dylan S. Small
author_sort	Halima S. Twabi
title	Evaluating the Effect of Appropriate Complementary Feeding Practices on Child Growth in Malawi Using Cross-Sectional Data: An Application of Propensity Score Matching
title_short	Evaluating the Effect of Appropriate Complementary Feeding Practices on Child Growth in Malawi Using Cross-Sectional Data: An Application of Propensity Score Matching
title_full	Evaluating the Effect of Appropriate Complementary Feeding Practices on Child Growth in Malawi Using Cross-Sectional Data: An Application of Propensity Score Matching
title_fullStr	Evaluating the Effect of Appropriate Complementary Feeding Practices on Child Growth in Malawi Using Cross-Sectional Data: An Application of Propensity Score Matching
title_full_unstemmed	Evaluating the Effect of Appropriate Complementary Feeding Practices on Child Growth in Malawi Using Cross-Sectional Data: An Application of Propensity Score Matching
title_sort	evaluating the effect of appropriate complementary feeding practices on child growth in malawi using cross-sectional data: an application of propensity score matching
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/04e1b1b8f6c34be4b20923908570980b
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Evaluating the Effect of Appropriate Complementary Feeding Practices on Child Growth in Malawi Using Cross-Sectional Data: An Application of Propensity Score Matching

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