Enhancing Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices for Children Under Two Years in Rural Ghana: Leveraging Male Champion and Mother to Mother Support Group for Improved Outcome

Abstract

Appropriate infant and young child feeding practices is crucial for the first 1000 days of life however, two in three children between six months and two years of age are not fed food that supports their rapidly growing bodies and brains in Ghana. Community structures, such as male champions and mother-to-mother support groups, play a pivotal role in enhancing IYCF practices but, little is known on the effectiveness of male champions and mother-to- mother support groups in improving IYCF practices in rural Ghana. Thus, this study aims to enhance infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices for children under two years in rural Ghana by leveraging the influence of male champions and mother-to-mother support groups for improved outcomes. The study adopted a mixed method. Quantitative and qualitative method were utilized to collect and analyze the data using the formula n=z2 p(1- p)/d2, where n is the sample size, p is the prevalence of stunting, d is precision. At 95% confidence level and 5% degree of precision, the sample size was determined 1,354. Focus Group Discussion was used get in-depth information. The result showed that almost every mother who participated in the baseline and Endline surveys [98.6% (100% in Kassena Nankana West, 97.9% in Kintampo South and 98% in Sekyere East)] reported ever breastfeeding her youngest child. The overall exclusive breastfeeding rate ((94.7%) observed at evaluation across all beneficiary districts was significantly higher than the national 53.1%. It was observed that the project had contributed to significant improvement in the timely introduction of complementary food and the proportion of children who meet the MDD increased from 68.2% to 75.8%. In conclusion, it was evident that community level structures like mother-to-mother support group facilitators, mother to mother support groups, and male champions were effective to enhancing infant and young child feeding in rural Ghana where a significant improvement on exclusive breastfeeding was recoded.