Breastfeeding – Page 2

Nutrition Knowledge Bank (GSMA mNutrition Initiative that provides advice via mobile phones)

April 29, 2017

A new open-access Knowledge Bank aims to deliver nutrition information to three million people in 12 developing countries.

The Knowledge Bank, part of the GSMA mNutrition initiative to help tackle malnutrition in Africa and Asia, is a collection of content on good nutritional practices and includes downloadable factsheets and mobile messages.

Adequate nutrition is critical to the physical and mental development of children and to long-term human health, but one out of three people in developing countries suffers from micronutrient deficiency. Experts consider poor access to agricultural and health information a major barrier to the uptake of improved nutritional practises, particularly by women and vulnerable groups in marginalized areas.

mNutrition delivers content to people at risk of malnutrition in Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. An expert consortium on nutritional matters—BMJ, CABI, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Oxfam International—is partnering with local organizations in these countries to produce useful and reliable nutritional, agricultural and health information, which is then distributed through mobile phone networks in each country.

The Nutrition Knowledge Bank is searchable by country and subject. The messages and factsheets are available in several local languages and take into account the differing cultural contexts. The topics covered include breastfeeding advice for new mothers, practical tips for rearing dairy cows and growing healthier crops for human consumption.

The Nutrition Knowledge Bank can be found at: https://www.cabi.org/nutritionkb

Can gossip change nutrition behaviour? Results of a mass media and community-based intervention trial in East Java, Indonesia (Tropical Medicine & International Health article 2016 March 21:3)

December 4, 2016

This paper presents the the effect of a behaviour change intervention, Gerakan Rumpi Sehat (the Healthy Gossip Movement), on infant and young child feeding practices in peri-urban Indonesia. The pilot intervention was designed based on the principles of a new behaviour change theory, Behaviour Centred Design (BCD). It avoided educational messaging in favour of employing emotional drivers of behaviour change, such as affiliation, nurture and disgust and used television commercials, community activations and house-to-house visits as delivery channels. The evaluation took the form of a 2-arm cluster randomised trial with a non-randomised control arm. One intervention arm received TV only, while the other received TV plus community activations. The intervention components were delivered over a 3-month period in 12 villages in each arm, each containing an average of 1300 households. There were two primary outcomes: dietary diversity of complementary food and the provision of unhealthy snacks to children aged 6–24 months.

Click here for full paper.

Evidence of Effective SBCC Approaches to Promote Breastfeeding Practices (section 3.2 of ‘Evidence of Effective Approaches to Social and Behavior Change Communication for Preventing and Reducing Stunting and Anemia: Report from a Systematic Literature Review’ SPRING 2014)

July 31, 2016

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends three primary breastfeeding practices: initiation of breastfeeding within one hour after birth (also referred to as immediate breastfeeding), exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) through six months of age, and continued breastfeeding until 24 months of age (Dyson et al., 2005; WHO, 2008). Evidence associated with the recommendation for immediate breastfeeding is limited and likely operates through the effect of exclusive breastfeeding (Bhutta et al., 2013). The Lancet, therefore, includes only EBF and continued breastfeeding in the modeling of optimal breastfeeding practices cited above.

Despite the promise of optimal breastfeeding practices, rates for the three WHO recommended breastfeeding practices remain low, and negligible progress has been made to increase these rates over the past two decades (UNICEF, 2013). According to an analysis of data from 78 low and middle income countries, rates of immediate breastfeeding range from a mean of 36% in Eastern Europe to a mean of 58% in Latin America, and the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in children one to five months of age is just 30% (Black et al, 2013). According to the UNICEF global database of national surveys from 2007-2011, the current rate of breastfeeding at one year is 76%, while the rate of breastfeeding at age two years is 58%.

This section reviews the effectiveness of social and behavior change communication (SBCC) approaches on improving breastfeeding practices.

Click here for full section.

SBCC I-Kit to support faith-based organisation led breastfeeding interventions (The Health Communication Capacity Collaborative 2014)

July 31, 2016

The Supporting Breastfeeding Interventions for Faith-Based Organizations Implementation Kit (I-Kit) provides SBCC practitioners with straightforward guidance and interactive tools to assist in developing breastfeeding SBCC programs. While this I-Kit was designed with FBOs in mind, any type of organization seeking to improve breastfeeding practices can use it.

Click here for full kit.

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) and early initiation: target groups and influential messages (ORIE Research Summary 2016)

July 31, 2016

This briefing outlines findings from operations research on exclusive breastfeeding and early initiation – such as engaging with senior religious leaders, and identify Qu’ranic teachings that support EBF. The study supports refinement of the infant and young child feeding (IYCF) strategy implemented by the Working to Improve Nutrition in Northern Nigeria (WINNN) programme.

Summary of key recommendations:

Strengthen messages on the water content in breastmilk.
Integrate the showcasing of healthy EBF babies into IYCF advocacy.
Increase the targeting of men and develop specific IEC materials for this.
Engage with senior religious leaders, and identify Qu’ranic teachings that support EBF.
Develop an advocacy approach for older women, including songs and participatory approaches
Provide practical support on breastfeeding within mothers’ support groups.
Further research to develop a Hausa term for EBF that better encapsulates the full meaning.
Consider the need to develop a Hausa term for ‘late EBF’
Clarify that EBF is not dependent on the mother’s consumption of the recommended foods.

Click here to view briefing.