Feeding Practices of Children under 24 Months of Age Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital in Delhi

Optimal infantand young child-feeding (IYCF) practices are crucial for nutritional status, growth, development, health, and ultimately the survival of infants and young children. A semi-structured, pre tested questionnaire based on the standardized IYCF questionnaire was used to collect details about feeding practices of children under 24 months attending the immunization clinic at Safdarjung Hospital. Only 85.5 per cent of them were currently breast-fed and only 51% were exclusively breast-fed in the 0-6 month age group.. 40.8% of the children had been given pre-lacteal feeds .The MMF, MDD and MAD indicators were poor. The above findings support the need to increase awareness and counsel mothers on the importance of Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices to prevent malnutrition in children.