Influence of feeding practices and associated factors on the nutritional status of infants in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh state, India.

A community based cross-sectional study was undertaken in rural Madhya Pradesh (MP). The nutritional status of infants was assessed using WHO Child Growth Standards. Only 26% of infants received breast-feeding within 1 hour of birth. About 57% of children 6 to 11 months old received complementary feeding (CF). The prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting was 41%, 29%, and 33%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that the risk of underweight and stunting was 1.4 times higher among children belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes compared with others, 1.4 to 1.6 times among children from households with the lowest wealth index, and 1.5 times among children of illiterate mothers. Hygienic practices, birth weight, home delivery, and CF practices were also significantly (P < .01) associated with undernutrition in multivariate analysis. Undernutrition is an important health problem in MP, and urgent steps are required to formulate policies and strategies to improve infant and young child feeding practices, socioeconomic conditions, and literacy and encouraging institutional delivery and personal hygiene.