Objectives
To examine the trends and determinants of infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices during the last decade in Pakistan
Methods
We used pool data from two Pakistan Demographic and Health surveys (PDHS 2006/07 and PDHS 2012/13) and restricted our analysis to lastborn alive children aged 0-23 months, living with the respondent. Rates of IYCF indicators were measured for both surveys. Multivariate logistic regression models were constructed using pooled data from two surveys to examine the determinants at individual, household and community level for IYCF practices.
Results
We found reduction in early initiation of breast feeding rates (27.3% vs 18.7%), improvement in exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rate (37.1% vs 38.3%) and timely introduction of complimentary feeding (33.4% vs 66%), increase in predominant breastfeeding (18.8% vs 20.8%) and bottle feeding (31.9% vs 40.1%). Multivariate logistic regression models showed that non-EBF was associated with province, age of a child, and delivered by caesarean section; no early initiation of breastfeeding was associated with province, working mother, delivered by caesarean section and year of survey 2012/13 (p<0.001) compared to their counterparts.
Conclusions
No substantial improvements has been seen in IYCF practices during the last decade. Numerous factors associated with poor IYCF practices has been identified. The current findings provide key evidence to policymakers to improve the current coverage of IYCF in Pakistan.
