Division of Nutrition, St. John's Research Institute, St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore 560034, India.
Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2012 Oct;22(10):799-805. doi: 10.1016/j.numecd.2012.03.012. Epub 2012 Jun 29.
There are far too many children in the world who suffer from under-nutrition and growth faltering, with life time consequences such as reduced work capacity, increased infections, impaired intellectual performance and an increased risk of non communicable diseases later in life. These changes occur early in life, and consequently, complementary feeding has been receiving increased attention in the international nutrition community. In India, common problems relate not only to insufficient breastfeeding, but also to detrimental feeding practices. Only about 20% of children aged 6-23 months were fed according to the three recommended Infant and Child Feeding practices. The most common types of solid or semi-solid foods fed to both breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding children under 3 years of age were foods made from grains and roots. These complementary feeding practices were found to be significantly associated with poor socioeconomic status, undesirable socio-cultural beliefs, maternal illiteracy, and ignorance. Although many initiatives have been carried out in India to promote Infant and Young Child Feeding, the progress in reducing the number of undernourished children in India over the last decade has been slow and modest. Equally, with the growing evidence and interest in the role of infant nutrition in the development of over nutrition and non-communicable disease, it is important to plan appropriate complementary feeding interventions that result in optimal growth. Contact opportunities with parents, specifically mothers, must be used for counseling through multiple communication channels such as local media, in order to constantly educate the population with consistent and simple messages on child feeding.
世界上有太多的儿童遭受营养不良和生长迟缓的困扰，这会导致终生后果，如工作能力降低、感染增加、智力表现受损以及晚年患非传染性疾病的风险增加。这些变化发生在生命早期，因此，补充喂养在国际营养界受到了越来越多的关注。在印度，常见的问题不仅与母乳喂养不足有关，还与不良喂养习惯有关。只有大约 20%的 6-23 个月大的儿童按照三种推荐的婴儿和儿童喂养做法进行喂养。在 3 岁以下母乳喂养和非母乳喂养儿童中，最常见的固体或半固体食物是由谷物和根茎制成的食物。这些补充喂养做法与较差的社会经济地位、不良的社会文化信仰、母亲文盲和无知显著相关。尽管印度已经开展了许多促进婴儿和幼儿喂养的举措，但在过去十年中，印度减少营养不良儿童数量的进展缓慢且适度。同样，随着人们对婴儿营养在超重和非传染性疾病发展中的作用的认识不断提高，有必要计划适当的补充喂养干预措施，以实现最佳生长。必须通过多种沟通渠道（如当地媒体）与父母，特别是母亲进行接触，通过这些渠道进行咨询，以便不断用一致和简单的信息教育民众有关儿童喂养的问题。
