Dow Medical College, Dow University of Health Sciences, Baba-e-Urdu Road, Karachi 74400, Pakistan.
Int Breastfeed J. 2011 Oct 21;6:15. doi: 10.1186/1746-4358-6-15.
Breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices have profound implications for the maternal and child health status of a society. Feeding practices in Pakistan are suboptimal, leading to adverse outcomes on child health. In Pakistan, the Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) Program, in collaboration with several international organizations, including WHO and UNICEF, is working to improve these feeding practices in the country. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs.
Estimates on the various indicators for infant and young child feeding proposed by WHO were analyzed in light of the Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys (1990-91 and 2006-07) and several other national studies conducted since 1995.
Nearly half the core and optional indicators have improved over the years, though modestly; the others have demonstrated no statistically significant improvement over the years. Of the five indicators required in the WHO tool for the assessment of infant and young child feeding, introduction of complementary foods, bottle-feeding, and early initiation of breastfeeding, stand in the poor category, while exclusive breastfeeding and duration of breastfeeding fall in the fair category, suggesting an overall poor status.
There is considerable scope to improve breastfeeding and complementary feeding in Pakistan. Further programs should focus on improving the following indicators that have shown no significant development: early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding under six months, continued breastfeeding at two years, age appropriate feeding, and bottle feeding. Effective implementation of interventions that are known to improve breastfeeding practices is imperative, as is further research to yield data that can lead future endeavors.
母乳喂养和补充喂养实践对一个社会的母婴健康状况有深远的影响。巴基斯坦的喂养实践并不理想，导致儿童健康出现不良后果。在巴基斯坦，妇幼和儿童健康（MNCH）计划与包括世卫组织和儿基会在内的几个国际组织合作，努力改善该国的这些喂养实践。本文的目的是评估这些计划的有效性。
根据巴基斯坦人口与健康调查（1990-1991 年和 2006-2007 年）和自 1995 年以来进行的其他几项国家研究，分析了世卫组织提出的各种婴儿和幼儿喂养指标的估计值。
近一半的核心和可选指标多年来有所改善，尽管幅度不大；其他指标多年来没有显示出统计学上的显著改善。在用于评估婴儿和幼儿喂养的世卫组织工具的五个指标中，只有引入补充食品、奶瓶喂养和早期开始母乳喂养这三个指标属于较差类别，而纯母乳喂养和母乳喂养持续时间则属于一般类别，这表明整体状况较差。
巴基斯坦在改善母乳喂养和补充喂养方面有很大的空间。进一步的计划应侧重于改善以下显示没有显著发展的指标：早期开始母乳喂养、六个月以下纯母乳喂养、两岁时继续母乳喂养、适当年龄的喂养和奶瓶喂养。必须有效实施已知能改善母乳喂养实践的干预措施，并进一步开展研究，以产生能够指导未来努力的数据。
