Complementary Breastfeeding

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Complementary feeding means giving foods in addition to breastmilk. Malnutrition can result from suboptimal breastfeeding practices, poor quality complementary foods, detrimental feeding practices, and contamination of complementary food and feeding utensils. The second half of an infant's first year is an especially vulnerable time because infants are learning to eat and must be fed soft foods frequently and patiently. If nutritional intake is inadequate, the consequences persist throughout life.

Health Education To Villages promotes the introduction of appropriate complementary foods at six months with increased feeding frequency and changes in food consistency, quantity, and diversity as the child ages. Health Education To Villages emphasizes the importance of breastmilk as an important source of energy, protein, and micronutrients during this period. We promote the increase of timely complementary feeding among infants 6 through 9 months and testing of approaches for improving feeding practices. We aim to work with international and national partners to promote a set of unified, scientifically based guidelines on complementary feeding and to develop appropriate complementary feeding indicators.

More information on Complementary Feeding from Linkages Project

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04 March, 2008