Peer-reviewed article
Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and their contribution to improving complementary feeding practices among children aged 6-23 months in India: insights from a nationally representative survey.
R Praveen Kumar, Y Selvamani, Hari Singh ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined whether India's Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme improves how children aged 6-23 months are fed. Using data from nearly 60,000 children in a national survey, researchers found that children using ICDS services were more likely to eat diverse foods, eggs, and flesh foods, but were actually less likely to eat the recommended number of meals per day. The programme had little effect on whether children started semi-solid foods at the right age or achieved a minimum acceptable diet.
Key points
- Children receiving ICDS services had 19% higher probability of consuming a diverse diet
- ICDS beneficiaries had 27% higher probability of consuming egg and flesh foods
- ICDS showed only 3% higher probability of vegetable and fruit consumption
- ICDS beneficiaries had 14% lower probability of achieving recommended meal frequency
- ICDS utilization was not significantly associated with timely introduction of semi-solid foods or minimum acceptable diet
Limitations
The study uses cross-sectional data so cannot establish causality or account for unmeasured confounding factors. It cannot explain why ICDS beneficiaries achieved lower meal frequency despite other positive outcomes, which limits understanding of programme mechanisms.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is India's flagship programme to improve the nutritional and health status of children. Appropriate complementary feeding is essential for young children age 6 and 23 months to meet additional nutrient needs. However, there are limited evidence on how ICDS utilization affects complementary feeding practices in India. METHODS: This study used a sample of 59,115 children age 6-23 months from the National Family Health Survey 2019-21. Modified Poisson regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between the utilization of ICDS services and complementary feeding practices, estimating the adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR). RESULTS: Children age 6-23 months receiving ICDS services had a 19% high probability of consuming diverse diet (95% CI 1.13-1.25, p < 0.001), a 27% high probability of consuming egg and flesh foods (95% CI 1.20-1.34, p < 0.001), and a 3% higher probability of consuming vegetables and fruits (95% CI 1.00-1.06, p < 0.05). However, ICDS utilization is not significantly associated with the timely introduction of semi-solid foods (6-8 months) and the minimum acceptable diet (6-23 months). The probability of achieving recommended meal frequency is significantly 14% lower (95% CI 0.83-0.90, p < 0.001) among ICDS beneficiaries. CONCLUSION: Despite the programme expansion, ICDS have limited influence on improving complementary feeding practices in India. Targeted efforts to improve service delivery to young children by Integrated Child Development Services could potentially support better complementary feeding practices.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) provision and utilization
- Population
- 59,115 children aged 6-23 months from India, stratified by ICDS service utilization
Key finding
19% higher probability of consuming diverse diet (95% CI 1.13-1.25, p<0.001)