Prevalence and predictors of minimum acceptable diet (MAD) feeding among tribal children aged 6–23 months in India

ABSTRACT

Minimum acceptable diet (MAD) that combines minimum dietary diversity (MDD) and minimum meal frequency (MMF) is one of the eight core indicators for assessing infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices for children aged 6–23 months. With low MAD, young children and infants are more susceptible to undernutrition. The study assesses the prevalence and predictors of MAD among tribal children aged 6–23 months in India. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyzes were performed on data from 6326 tribal children of the National Family Health Survey (2019–21). Stata was used for the analyzes, with a 5% significance level. Only 12% of tribal children were fed with a MAD, while 24% had MDD and 34% MMF. Children aged 18–23 months had a three times higher chance of MAD than their 6–8 months counterparts. Children receiving Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), children of mothers with ten or more years of schooling, children whose mothers were exposed to mass media, and whose mothers had 4+ antenatal care visits in their last pregnancy had a higher likelihood of MAD. The study concludes that MAD among tribal children aged 6–23 months is unsatisfactory and varies significantly by socio-demographic characteristics, suggesting targeted intervention.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ “Anganwadi Services (now renamed as Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented by States/Union Territories providing a package of six services, namely, (i) Supplementary nutrition (ii) Pre-school non-formal education (iii) Nutrition & health education (iv) Immunization (v) Health check-up and (vi) Referral services to all eligible beneficiaries, namely, children in the age group of 0–6 years, pregnant and lactating mothers through the platform of Anganwadi Centres across the country. Three services, viz. immunization, health check-up, and referral services, are related to health and are provided through the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and public health infrastructure”(Press Information Bureau, Government of India 2022).

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial entity, or not-for-profit organization.