It is quite fitting for a symposium reviewing progress in infant nutrition in the 20th century to start with a review of infant mortality rates during that time period. Indeed, it has been a truism in public health that, within limits, the infant mortality rate of any community, large or small, reflected its general state of health better than any other single indicator. Although no longer vali...

Successful integration of nutrition interventions into large-scale development programmes from nutrition-relevant sectors, such as agriculture, can address critical underlying determinants of undernutrition and enhance the coverage and effectiveness of on-going nutrition-specific activities. However, evidence on how this can be done is limited. This study examines the feasibility of delivering ...

It is quite fitting for a symposium reviewing progress in infant nutrition in the 20th century to start with a review of infant mortality rates during that time period. Indeed, it has been a truism in public health that, within limits, the infant mortality rate of any community, large or small, reflected its general state of health better than any other single indicator. Although no longer vali...

BACKGROUND Integrated nutrition and health programs seek to reduce undernutrition by educating child caregivers about infant feeding and care. Data on the quality of program implementation and consequent effects on infant feeding practices are limited. This study evaluated the effectiveness of enhancing a nutrition and health program on breastfeeding and complementary-feeding practices in rural...

BACKGROUND Despite the well-recognized effectiveness of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of an infant life for reducing infant mortality, adherence to this practice is not widespread in the developing world. Although several studies on infant nutrition practices have been conducted in urban settings of Papua New Guinea (PNG), there is only scant information on infant feeding pra...

This issue reports selected results from a comprehensive study of infant and child mortality based on the National Family Health Survey data. The analysis distinguishes between neonatal, postneonatal, infant and child mortality since mortality and its causes vary considerably among children of different ages. Hazard regression analysis was used to estimate the effects of each individual varia...

PURPOSE This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a mother/infant-toddler health program developed to enhance parenting knowledge, behavior and confidence in low income mothers and home environment. METHODS A one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used. Sixty-nine dyads of mothers and infant-toddlers (aged 0-36 months) were provided with weekly intervention f...

Human milk is recognised as the best form of nutrition for infants. However; in instances where breast-feeding is not possible, unsuitable or inadequate, infant milk formulae are used as breast milk substitutes. These formulae are designed to provide infants with optimum nutrition for normal growth and development and are available in either powdered or liquid forms. Powdered infant formula is ...

We investigate trends in health human capital using data on infant mortality rates and adult heights for birth cohorts from 1960 to 1985 from 39 developing countries. In Sub-Saharan Africa, despite declining infant mortality rates, adult heights have not risen. We argue that childhood exposure to disease, and nutrition, have remained stagnant in Sub-Saharan Africa and the decline in infant mort...

Background: Interventions promoting optimal infant and young child nutrition could prevent a fifth of under-5 deaths in countries with high mortality. Poor infant and young child feeding practices are widely documented in Kenya, with potential detrimental effects on child growth, health and survival. Effective strategies to improve these practices are needed. This study aims to pilot implementa...