Interventions to Improve Intake of Complementary Foods by Infants 6 to 12 Months of Age in Developing Countries: Impact on Growth and on the Prevalence of Malnutrition and Potential Contribution to Child Survival

Abstract

To evaluate programmatic efforts to improve dietary intake and growth in 6- to 12-month-old infants in developing countries, we reviewed the results of 5 efficacy trials and 16 programmes conducted in 14 countries. Efficacy trials were able to improve infant dietary intakes by 65 to 302 kcal/day and infant growth by 0.04 to 0.46 SD. Programmes reported large improvements in maternal knowledge and practices concerning infant feeding. Four programmes that provided information reported improvements in dietary intakes of 71 to 164 kcal/day and changes in growth of −0.08 to 0.87 SD. Despite variability in the results, the majority of research and programmatic efforts improved growth rates by 0.10 to 0.50 SD. in absolute terms, this range of improvement in growth would reduce prevalences of malnutrition (< −2 SD) at 12 months of age by 1% to 19% and could reduce deaths due to malnutrition by 2% to 13%, depending on the underlying prevalence of malnutrition in the community.