Complimentary feeding practices amongst tribal and non-tribal population of Assam

Problem statement: Less than half of Indian infants aged 6-9 months receive some kind of complementary foods in addition to mother’s milk and only 1 child in 10, between 6-24 months is fed optimally, i.e. fed as per the recommended practices. Objective: To assess and compare the complimentary feeding practices amongst tribal and non-tribal population of Assam. Methods: A community based cross-sectional observation study. A total of 300 mothers from ‘Tribal and Non-Tribal’ were interviewed using WHO recommended study tools. Data analysis was done using SPSS Version 20. Chi-square test was done to see association between two variables. Binary logistic regression was done to find odds ratio. p<0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: Response rate was 93% (560/600). Mean age of initiation of complementary feeding was 7 months. Delay in initiation of complementary was seen more in non-tribal population than tribal population (64.1% vs 57.9%). Early initiation of breastfeeding was overall 79.3% (81.1% tribal vs 77.3% non-tribal). Colostrum was given in majority (44.6% tribal vs 44.5% non-tribal) which was found to be significantly different (p= 0.001). Normal weight was significantly higher in tribal than non-tribal community (90.5% vs 81.1%) (p=0.003). Conclusion: Health education and demonstration of complementary diet with locally available homemade ingredients may increase care giver’s knowledge and enhance complementary feeding practices. Keywords: Complimentary feeding practices, Tribal population, non-tribal population, Assam, Young infant and child feeding (IYCF) practices.