Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for five Latin American countries (seven data sets) were used to explore the feasibility of creating a composite feeding index and to examine the association between feeding practices and child height-for-age (HAZ). Urban/rural differences were also examined...The data sets used were Bolivia, 1994 and 1998; Colombia, 1995; Guatemala, 1995 and 1999; Nicaragua, 1998; and Peru, 1996...This work shows that the data available in DHS data sets can be used for a variety of purposes, including to (1) describe and study the distribution of specific feeding practices by geographic area, or other characteristics of interest such as maternal schooling or household socioeconomic status; (2) create a child feeding index to quantify and illustrate associations between child feeding practices and child outcomes, thereby serving as an advocacy tool; and (3) identify practices and vulnerable groups that could be targeted by programs and policies to improve child feeding practices and overall child health and nutrition. In sum, greater use of the DHS data on child feeding practices should be promoted for research and analysis, as a source of guidance on program design and planning, and for advocacy.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in its series FCND discussion papers with number
130.