Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) Network Technical Meeting Maputo 22 nd Sept 2011 Name: Faith M. Thuita Nutrition Technical Advisor - Kenya Infant & Young Child Nutrition (IYCN) Project Influence of Grandmothers and Men on Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices during the first 1000 days

The Infant & Young Child Nutrition Project  USAID’s flagship project on infant and young child nutrition  Aims to prevent malnutrition for mothers and children during the critical time from pregnancy until two years of age.  Led by PATH in collaboration with CARE, The Manoff Group, and University Research Co., LLC

The 1000 Days Initiative and the Scale up Nutrition Movement  Promotes targeted action and investment to improve nutrition for mothers and children from pregnancy to the age of 2 years  Why: The impact of maternal and child malnutrition during this period is irreversible

Lancet Series on maternal and child nutrition (2008) – Evidence base  Globally, malnutrition is an underlying cause in more than a 1/3 of child deaths and,  11% of the total disease burden worldwide is due to maternal and child undernutrition. More than 3.5 million children die each year

Quality of nutrition in the first 1000 days determines …..  Whether a mother and child survive a pregnancy  Whether a child will contract a common childhood disease  Experience enough brain development to go to school and hold a job as an adult.

Feeding practices enhance child survival  Exclusive breastfeeding – Estimated to prevent 13 per cent of all deaths of children under five  Appropriate complementary feeding can help prevent a further 6% of all child deaths

High Impact Nutrition Interventions  Promotion of good maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation  Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months  Appropriate complementary feeding (6- 24 mons)  Micronutrient supplementation

Focus of Community Programs on Young Child Nutrition  Most programs, research and policies on infant and young child nutrition focus on mothers of young children.  Literature review – Africa, Asia and Latin America revealed only 14 programs involved either GM or men.  Ref; Aubel J, 2010

Engaging influential household members There is Increasing recognition of the need to adopt a wider approach which involves other influential household actors such as grandmothers and men

Why Grandmothers and Fathers?  Grandmothers - Primary caregivers of women and children.  Play a leading role in decision making in the family: –Pregnancy and maternal nutrition –New born care –Breastfeeding, & complementary feeding –Home care for sick children

Male engagement  Involvement of men in maternal and infant young child nutrition is primarily focused on supportive roles:.  Provision of food  Resources to meet health needs of family members

A Family Approach?  GMs and men play critical and complementary roles in promoting the nutritional and health status of children and women.  Need for program designs that build on and strengthen the cultural roles of mothers, fathers and grandmothers.

Engagement of grandmothers and fathers – IYCN’s approaches  Literature review on roles and influence of grandmothers and men  Formative research on role of men and grandmothers in maternal,  infant, and young child nutrition  Evaluation of interventions to engage grandmothers and fathers. a

Approaches  Integration of activities into on- going community based initiatives

Integration and partnerships  Training psycho-social support counselors on PMTCT and infant feeding.  Developing reporting tools for PSSCs.  Production of IEC materials for dissemination in facilities and communities.

Infant feeding & HIV community support  Integrating infant feeding support into on- going community-based HIV activities through training:  Community Counselors  Ambassadors of Hope  Developed training manual and participant guide on Infant Feeding and HIV.  Developed reporting tools for ongoing monitoring of activities.

Engaging men in infant feeding  Piloting integration of infant feeding issues into men’s groups activities  Target existing men’s groups  Developed 2-day training guide  Trained men’s groups facilitators Photo: APHIA II Western

Lessons Learnt  Use a family focused approach to behaviuor change for infant feeding and maternal nutrition  Grandmothers are frontline caregivers and key influencers in the family  Men are not male women

Lessons Learnt  View grandmothers and men as resources rather than obstacles  Engage men and grandmothers through existing structures and networks  Address community norms, not just individual behaviors

Resources on Grandmothers and Male Involvement  Literature review – Roles and influence t of grandmothers and men  Training manual for male group leaders  Training manual for dialogue group leaders (Grandmothers)  Formative assessment report on engagement of men and grandmothers to improve IYCN in Kenya

Group discussion Question1: What are opportunities and barriers in engagement of men and grandmothers in your country and/or project?

Question 2 What would be the next steps for using a family approach to improve maternal, infant and young child nutrition in your program/country?

Thank you Ps Visit: www:iycn.org