This open-access review evaluates the effectiveness of peer counselling to improve complementary feeding practices in Asian and African countries. Complementary feeding is defined as "the consumption of foods and liquids when breast milk is no longer sufficient to meet the nutritional requirements of infants." Peer counselling improves timely complementary feeding and ensures the correct proportions and consistency of foods including adequate amounts of food is given. Other important complementary feeding indicators like minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency and minimum acceptable diet can also be increased through peer-counselling interventions. Peer counselling is well known to enhance the rate of breastfeeding practices, but this review suggests it is also effective for complementary feeding and may inform future nutrition programs to extend the length of peer counselling for mothers. |
