Appropriate nutrition during the first 1000 days of life lays the foundation for a child's health and well-being. Introduction of complementary foods within 6-8 months of age and step-wise increase of diversified plant and animal-based diets is necessary, for which exclusive breast milk is no longer enough to meet the nutritional needs. Appropriate complementary feeding practices as per the world health organization recommendations is a window of opportunity to promote health and prevent acute and chronic under nutrition (stunting, wasting & underweight). Globally, the burden of under nutrition remains unacceptably high, and the progress of under nutrition reduction is unsatisfactorily slow. In Ethiopia, appropriate complementary feeding practices of mothers to their children are very low. In contrast, child under nutrition is a major public health problem. This study aims to determine the effects of complementary feeding counseling on appropriate complementary feeding practices and child under nutrition through a community based randomized controlled trial.
Appropriate complementary feeding practices as per the world health organization recommendations is a window of opportunity to promote health and prevent acute and chronic under nutrition (stunting, wasting & underweight). Globally, the burden of under nutrition remains unacceptably high, and the progress of under nutrition reduction is unsatisfactorily slow. In Ethiopia, appropriate complementary feeding practices of mothers to their children are very low. In contrast, child under nutrition is a major public health problem.