The first Operations Research project supported by NIPI gets underway

India is home to more than 40% of world’s malnourished children. Malnutrition is a big problem in India with more than 40% of the children under 3 years of age being underweight and 79% of under 3 years aged children being anaemic. More than 2.5 million children die in India per year before they reach the age of five and malnutrition contributes to about 50% of these child hood deaths. So research in the area of malnutrition is very relevant and highly required for India and it is with this intent that the Operations Research committee for NIPI has approved the grant for this study which focuses on Infant and Young child feeding practices. 

The research project, titled-'Assessment of Pivotal issues related to infant feeding and Child Nutrition in one state in India'- will try to investigate the key influences on Infant and Young Child Nutrition practices in India. This is a joint proposal between the Academy of Nursing Sciences (ANSWERS), Hyderabad and FAFO institute of applied international studies, Oslo. The proposed time span for this project is two years and total budgetary allocation is approximately NOK 3.6 million. This study will be carried out in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India.

The project’s primary objective is to gain insight into the critical influences regarding mothers’ breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices for the first 12 months after birth. The secondary objectives of the project include investigation of mothers’ own perceptions of optimal infant feeding practices and their perceived barriers;  to assess the influences of mothers’ families, of community based volunteers such as ASHAs, TBAs; and of frontline service providers such as AWWs and ANMs on the feeding practices and to explore the community based volunteers’ & service providers’ perceptions of optimal infant feeding practices and their perceived barriers to such practices.