Progress In Developing An Infant And A Child Feeding Index: An Example Using The Ethiopia Demographic And Health Survey 2000

Summary indicators for measuring and assessing infant and child feeding practices are needed for research, communication and advocacy, and program evaluation. This paper reports on progress in developing a summary measure of infant and child feeding practices that addresses the following two challenges: infant and child feeding is multidimensional, and appropriate practices vary by age of the child. Much previous research in the area of infant and child feeding has focused on single practices over a narrow age range and so has not addressed the determinants and impact of adequate or optimal infant and child feeding. Using data from the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey, an infant and child feeding index is constructed, summarizing a range of key practices, including breastfeeding, bottle use, feeding frequency, and diet diversity. Because it provides age-specific scoring and incorporates various practices, the index is a useful analytic tool. The index is associated with an indicator of child growth (height-for-age) in bivariate and multivariate analyses. Examination of individual indicators shows that this association is driven by a strong positive association between one component "diet diversity" and height-for-age. Further work is required to establish the nature of the relationship between infant and child feeding indicators, nutrient adequacy, growth, and other outcomes. But because it can be used to illustrate the association between a set of recommended practices and growth, the index may serve as a communication tool with policymakers. Simulations show that the index accurately reflects an averaging of changes in individual component practices, and so it may also be of use to program managers who seek a summary measure for assessing program impact on a range of early feeding practices.