Situational Analysis of Key Nutrition and Health Related Household and Community Practices in Rural Baroda, Gujarat - the Imci Approach

The present study was a situational analysis of household and community practices as per IMCI (Integrated Management of Childhood Illness) framework in rural Baroda, Gujarat. One PHC (Primary Health Centre) was purposively selected and out of the 17 AWCs (Anganwadi Centers) under this PHC, 6 were randomly selected. All households under these 6 AWCs having children less than three years of age were enrolled in the study. Data for knowledge, attitude and practices regarding 12 key family & community practices, nutrition & health services utilization for children and existing perceptions about infant feeding practices was elicited from mothers using a pretested questionnaire and focus group discussions. Results revealed that 38% mothers did not feed colostrum to the child in spite of most of them being advised to do so by TBA and Doctor/ANM (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife). Most households used open areas for waste disposal. Proper disposal of children’s feces was practiced only by 7% of the households. While few mothers knew about ORS packets, none of them knew the correct method of preparation and only 17% of the children with diarrhea in the past 2 weeks were given ORS. About 31% of the pregnant women did not get themselves immunized for TT and most of the deliveries took place at home. Supplementary food was the most frequently used service followed by growth monitoring while other services like preventive health check up were not used at all. The study thus indicates an urgent need to impart appropriate nutrition health education using behaviour change communication strategies.