Assessment of heatwave impacts on child feeding practices across 36 low-income and middle-income countries: a cross-sectional analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Optimal feeding practices during the first 2 years of life are vital for child survival and growth. Current nutrition programmes in low-income and middle-income countries focus primarily on long-term dietary improvement, overlooking the acute challenges that heatwaves present to daily feeding practices in already nutritionally vulnerable populations.

Methods

By using the Demographic and Health Surveys data, we analysed data from the youngest child aged 6-23 months (including both infants aged 6-11 months and young children aged 12-23 months) in 293 137 households across 36 low-income and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2019. Our data came from mothers' 24-h dietary recall interviews about what foods they fed their youngest child on the previous day and night.

SUBMITTER: He C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12447361 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature