Child feeding practices and male involvement in child feeding among smallholder farming households in Uganda
Abstract
Smallholder farmers continue to face food and nutrition insecurity. The timing, scope and effectiveness of interventions is influenced by decision-making and roles within households and communities, yet emphasis has majorly been placed on mothers. A cross-sectional study explored the child feeding practices and extent of the father’s participation in child feeding among 433 farming households with children aged 6-35 months from two rural and two peri-urban districts in Central Uganda. Diets consumed by children were inadequate with only 37% meeting the minimum dietary diversity. About 65% of fathers participated in decision-making over child feeding with 10% all the time and 24% only a few times. Additionally, 48% of fathers participated in actual child feeding, 2% all the time and 23% only a few times. Main reasons for the level of father participation included the presence or absence of money or food; concern or lack of concern over the child’s health; father’s physical availability; and whether child feeding is part of a father’s responsibility or not. Fathers who participated in decision-making regarding child feeding were more likely to participate in actual child feeding (r=0.6, P<0.01). There is an opportunity for active engagement of fathers in nutrition-related interventions to enhance their participation and support in decisions concerning child feeding and actual child feeding for enhanced child and household food and nutrition security.
Keywords
Gender, Father, Child nutrition, Dietary diversity, Decision-making
References
- Aubel, J. (2012). The role and influence of grandmothers on child nutrition: Culturally designated advisors and caregivers: Grandmothers: nutrition advisors and caregivers. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 8(1), 19–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-8709.2011.00333.x
- Bilal, S. (2015). The fathers’ role in child nutrition in Ethiopia. Universitaire Pers Maastricht.
- Bilal, S. M., Dinant, G., Blanco, R., Crutzen, R., Mulugeta, A., & Spigt, M. (2016). The influence of father’s child feeding knowledge and practices on children’s dietary diversity: A study in urban and rural districts of Northern Ethiopia, 2013: Children’s dietary diversity. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 12(3), 473–483. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12157 CGIAR Research Program on HumidTropics. (2016). Annual Report 2016. International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/89312
- Ekesa, B., Nabuuma, D., Mpiira, S., Johnson, V., Nkuba, D., Kennedy, G., & Staver, C. (2018). Multi-level participatory approaches to mobilise dietary diversity for improved infant and young child feeding in banana-based agri-food systems of rural East Africa. In E. Kalipeni, J. Iwelunmor, D. S. Grigsby-Toussaint, & I. K. Moise (Eds.), Public Health, Disease and Development in Africa (pp. 245–268). Routledge.
- Ekesa, B., Rao, J., Cadilhon, J.-J., Ayebare, P., Bashasaha, B., Muyanja, C., Tenywa, M., Tumusi, D., Twinamasiko, J., Jagwe, J., Mango, N., & Muchunguzi, P. (2015). A situational analysis of agricultural production and marketing, and natural resource management systems in the central region of Uganda [ILRI/ Bioversity Project Report]. International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/73336
- El-Nmer, F., Salama, A., & Elhawary, D. (2014). Nutritional knowledge, attitude, and practice of parents and its impact on growth of their children. Menoufia Medical Journal, 27(3), 612. https://doi.org/10.4103/1110-2098.145529
- Fadare, O., Amare, M., Mavrotas, G., Akerele, D., & Ogunniyi, A. (2019). Mother’s nutrition-related knowledge and child nutrition outcomes: Empirical evidence from Nigeria. PLOS ONE, 14(2), e0212775. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212775
- FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, & WHO. (2018). Building climate resilience for food security and nutrition. The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2018. FAO.
- HKI. (2015). Nurturing Connections. Adapted for Homestead Food Production and Nutrition. Helen Keller International: HKI. https://www.fsnnetwork.org/sites/default/files/TOPS_Nurturing%20Connections_English_FINAL_P.pdf
- Ickes, S. B., Baguma, C., Brahe, C. A., Myhre, J. A., Adair, L. S., Bentley, M. E., & Ammerman, A. S. (2017). Maternal participation in a nutrition education program in Uganda is associated with improved infant and young child feeding practices and feeding knowledge: A post-program comparison study. BMC Nutrition, 3(1), 32. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-017-0140-8
