Peer-reviewed article
Child feeding practices and nutritional status of children aged 6-23 months in Nigeria: a multi-site survey.
Iheme GO, Hajara I, Adebare AF, Edafioghor LO, Ortutu BF et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This survey of 1,295 mother-child pairs in Nigeria examined feeding practices and nutritional status of children aged 6-23 months at four tertiary health institutions. While most children received appropriate meal frequency and timely complementary feeding introduction, breastfeeding initiation and exclusive breastfeeding rates were low, and food diversity was insufficient. Nearly half of the children were either stunted or overweight/obese, indicating poor nutritional outcomes. Exclusive breastfeeding and continued breastfeeding were associated with better weight-for-age and height-for-age outcomes.
Key points
- Only 48.5% of children had early breastfeeding initiation and 68.4% were exclusively breastfed, both below optimal levels
- 80.7% of children met minimum meal frequency and 86.9% received age-appropriate complementary feeding introduction
- 44.1% of children had stunting and 44.1% had overweight/obesity, indicating nutritional polarization
- Exclusive breastfeeding was associated with better BMI-for-age (OR=1.51, p=0.02)
- Current breastfeeding was associated with better height-for-age (OR=0.54, p<0.001) and BMI-for-age (OR=1.78, p=0.002)
Limitations
The study was conducted at tertiary health institutions only, which may not represent the broader Nigerian child population or rural areas with limited healthcare access. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality between feeding practices and nutritional outcomes, only associations.
Abstract
Background Poor nutrition during early childhood affects growth/development and increases the risk of morbidity and mortality. This study assessed child feeding practices and the nutritional status of children from selected Nigerian tertiary health institutions. Methods This study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design to digitally elicit responses from 1,295 mothers and child pairs accessing welfare services at four tertiary health institutions in Nigeria. Harmonized indicators such as Infant and Young Child Feeding Index (ICFI), WHO/UNICEF Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) Practices Indicators, and WHO growth standards were used to evaluate the children's feeding practices and anthropometric status. All descriptive and bivariate analysis (Fisher-Exact test) were done using IBM SPSS for Windows 25. Results The study revealed that while 80.7% and 86.9% of the children met the minimum meal frequency and age-appropriate complementary feeding introduction criteria, breastfeeding initiation (48.5%), exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rates (68.4%) and diversified food intake were suboptimal. However, 44.1% of children with stunting and 44.1% of children with overweight/obesity were identified. Exclusive breastfeeding was positively associated with BMI-for-age (OR = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.06-2.16; p = 0.02). Current breastfeeding status was also significantly associated with height-for-age (OR = 0.54; 95% CI: 0.37-0.78; p < 0.001) and BMI-for-age (OR = 1.78; 95% CI: 1.23-2.58; p = 0.002). Conclusions Several aspects of the children's feeding practices were sub-optimal, nutritional status was polarized, with many children affected by stunting and overweight/obesity. Interventions tailored towards strengthening breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices are critical for improving nutrition outcomes.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Assessment of current child feeding practices including breastfeeding initiation, exclusive breastfeeding, meal frequency, complementary feeding introduction, and dietary diversity
- Population
- 1,295 mother-child pairs (children aged 6-23 months) accessing welfare services at four tertiary health institutions in Nigeria
Key finding
Breastfeeding initiation rate was 48.5%, below WHO recommendations
GO et al. · Europe PMC · 4 Jun 2026