First foods: Diet quality among infants aged 6–23 months in 42 countries

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dc.creatorChoudhury, Samira
dc.creatorHeadey, Derek D.
dc.creatorMasters, William A.
dc.date2019-09-20
dc.date2024-06-21T09:10:12Z
dc.date2024-06-21T09:10:12Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T15:31:29Z
dc.descriptionDiet quality is closely linked to child growth and development, especially among infants aged 6–23 months who need to complement breastmilk with the gradual introduction of nutrient-rich solid foods. This paper links Demographic and Health Survey data on infant feeding to household and environmental factors for 76,641 children in 42 low- and middle-income countries surveyed in 2006–2013, providing novel stylized facts about diets in early childhood. Multivariate regressions examine the associations of household socioeconomic characteristics and community level indicators of climate and infrastructure with dietary diversity scores (DDS). Results show strong support for an infant-feeding version of Bennett's Law, as wealthier households introduce more diverse foods at earlier ages, with additional positive effects of parental education, local infrastructure and more temperate agro-climatic conditions. Associations with consumption of specific nutrient-dense foods are less consistent. Our findings imply that while income growth is indeed an important driver of diversification, there are strong grounds to also invest heavily in women’s education and food environments to improve diet quality, while addressing the impacts of climate change on livelihoods and food systems. These results reveal systematic patterns in how first foods vary across developing countries, pointing to new opportunities for research towards nutrition-smart policies to improve children’s diets.
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/146988
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/106854
dc.languageen
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.rightsOpen Access
dc.sourceChoudhury, Samira; Headey, Derek D.; and Masters, William A. 2019. First foods: Diet quality among infants aged 6–23 months in 42 countries. Food Policy 88(October 2019): 101762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2019.101762
dc.subjectchild nutrition
dc.subjectdiets
dc.subjectmalnutrition
dc.subjectnutrition
dc.subjectchild feeding
dc.subjectinfant feeding
dc.subjectchildren
dc.subjectdiet quality
dc.subjectdiet
dc.subjectbreastfeeding
dc.subjectdiversification
dc.subjectfood systems
dc.subjectdietary diversity
dc.titleFirst foods: Diet quality among infants aged 6–23 months in 42 countries
dc.typeJournal Article

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Instituto Internacional de Investigación sobre Políticas Alimentarias (IFPRI)