Infant and Young Child Feeding in Bangladesh

We can save millions of lives and increase economic opportunity by improving feeding practices and nutrition for infants and young children. Good nutrition is necessary for people to live a healthy and productive life, and is critical to securing long-term social and economic development goals – such as the Millennium Development Goals. The Health, Population and Nutrition Sector Development Programme recognizes and prioritizes the critical role of IYCF.

Three essential feeding practices during the first 24 months of life can prevent the impact of poor nutrition that last a lifetime:

1. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months (180 days)
2. Washing hands with soap before preparing food and feeding young children
3. Beginning with the seventh month of life (from six through 23 months of age) feeding babies and children a variety of healthy foods (preferably homemade) in sufficient quantities, along with continued breastfeeding

Country Situation

While breastfeeding has traditionally been a universal practice in Bangladesh, only about 40% of mothers exclusively breastfeed their babies for up to six months (BDHS 2007). This has led to malnourished children growing up with weakened immune systems, stunted growth, increased risks of severe infectious diseases, and damaged physical, mental, and brain development.

According to the 2007 BDHS survey:

1. 43% of children are stunted, or too short for their age
2. 41% of children are underweight
3. 17% of children are wasted, or too thin for their height
4. 47% of children are anaemic

The Way Forward

By strengthening national policies and programs that support IYCF practices, we can prevent poor nutrition and help millions of children grow and thrive.

Currently in Bangladesh, approximately 90% of public sector hospitals are certified baby friendly establishments and thousands of doctors, nurses, and other allied professionals have been trained on IYCF issues. The IPHN underscores the need to revitalize the baby friendly status of public sector hospitals and to certify many private hospitals.

Nutrition must be a national development priority. Health care workers at all levels should be encouraged to counsel mothers and families on infant and young child feeding practices during every visit. We must:

1. Provide resources to train, supervise, reward, update, and monitor all levels of health care staff and community volunteers within existing services
2. During each health care visit, make nutrition counseling a top priority for pregnant women, mothers, adolescent girls, and families with young children
3. Provide information about maternal nutrition and healthy feeding practices in schools

Existing laws and policies must also continue to be implemented and enforced, including laws against the promotion of infant formula and in support of clean and uncontaminated food. The government has ratified the international Breast Milk Substitutes (BMS) code and formulated national laws in the mid-1980s that have curbed BMS market control, but progress is still needed to improve the enforcement of this code.

While almost all public sector employees enjoy six months of maternity leave, and four months leave has been granted in the private sector, work remains to expand these benefits to more workers–especially in the sub-formal or informal sector. New laws should support women’s ability to work while maintaining best feeding practices.

Role of IPHN

IPHN serves a number of critical roles that support IYCF programs and policies in Bangladesh:

1. The national focal organization for the BMS control program
2. A supporter of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) program
3. A lead training provider on IYCF

In 2007, the IPHN developed and published the National Strategy for IYCF in Bangladesh – a national plan of action on IYCF prepared in consultation with stakeholders. IPHN views IYCF as a key public health nutrition focus in Bangladesh and welcomes the active participation of all government, NGO, and private sector organizations to efficiently pursue relevant goals.