The association of feeding practices in the second six months of life with later under nutrition at 1-year old children: findings from the Household Food Security Study (HFSS)

Objective (s): Malnutrition in early months of life can cause many negative consequences. The family food security and feeding practices are two important factors contributing to childhood nutritional health. This study aimed to determine the association between child feeding practices in the second six months after birth، and their nutritional status at the age of one، derived from the Household Food Security Study. This was a case-control study conducted among 160 children aged 1y in 2010. The USDA’s 18-item food security questionnaire، socio-economic questionnaire، and feeding practices questionnaire were administered to collect data. Paying no attention to advices about starting complementary food، improper behaving about uncompleted food consumption، and lower active feeding score were significantly associated with under nutrition in food insecure households. Existence of distractive factors during feeding and lower active feeding score were significantly associated factors with under nutrition in food secure households. Feeding practices، especially behavioral factors، can be related with children under nutrition، in food secure and insecure households.