Study of Factors Associated with Inappropriate Complementary Feeding Among Children Aged 6 to 23 Months, Western Health Region of the Gambia, 2020

Introduction: Inappropriate complementary feeding practices are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the first two years of life. The aim was to investigate factors associated with inappropriate complementary feeding practices among mothers of children aged 6-23 months in the Western Health Region of The Gambia. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study conducted from 14 September to 14 October 2020. The study population consisted of mothers of children aged 6 to 23 months attending reproductive and child health clinics and enrolled in the "Every Child Counts - My Child Project" immunization and vaccination program. Simple random sampling was used to select participants using the project. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire administered by telephone interview and concerned the socio-demographic characteristics of the mothers, the professional and economic characteristics of the parents, the socio-demographic characteristics of the children, diet and complementary feeding practices. Results: The mean age of the mothers was 28.3 (±5.4) years and that of the children 14.2 (±4.8) months. Minimum dietary diversity was 33.3%, minimum meal frequency 88% and minimum acceptable dietary intake 14.5% for all children aged 6-23 months. Non-respect of minimum dietary diversity was associated with the child's female sex, with an OR = 16.3 [1.83-145.7], with the occurrence of both diarrhea and Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) in the two weeks preceding the survey, with an OR = 27.2 [4.26-39.8], and with the child's birth in a public health facility, with an OR = 55.1 [1.53-197.7]. Children whose mothers were aged between 25 and 34 and whose fathers did not work had a higher risk of non-respect of the dietary diversity, with OR = 54.1 [2.4 6- 118.5] and OR = 22.5 [2.32 - 31.9] respectively. The factors associated with non-respect of the minimum meal frequency were the advanced age of the children: 12 to 17 months with an OR= 28.6 [1.65 - 49.5] and 18 to 23 months with an OR= 18.9 [1.67 - 215.0] and a history of both ARI and diarrhea with an OR=. 52,9 [1,61 - 173,7]. Non-respect of the minimum acceptable dietary intake was associated with older children aged 18 to 23 months OR= 14.4 [2.25- 93.0] and those whose mothers had vocational training OR=.24.2 [1.27- 46.3]. Conclusion: Complementary feeding practices are not very satisfactory. It is important to strengthen nutrition education in order to improve infant and young child feeding practices.