Influence of Grandmothers and Men on Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices During the First 1,000 Days

Facilitator: Joan Jennings, TOPS Nutrition and Food Technology Senior Specialist, Save the Children

Presenter: Faith Thuita, IYCN Nutrition Technical Advisor, Kenya, PATH

Content: The presenter shared experiences from the Infant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN) Project in Kenya, a consortium project led by PATH and including CARE, The Manoff Group, and University Research Co., LLC as partners. The presentation began with an overview of why the First 1,000 Days Initiative and the Scaling-Up Nutrition movement focus on preventing undernutrition during pregnancy through the first two years of life (first 1,000 days ), as the negative impact of malnutrition during this period will be irreversible and will influence a child’s health status, cognitive ability, and work opportunities. The presenter reviewed the key high impact nutrition interventions, including good maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation, exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life, appropriate complementary feeding from 6 to 24 months, and micronutrient supplementation.

The IYCN Project conducted a literature review and found a limited number of projects that specifically include a focus on grandmothers and/or men (husbands). Grandmothers are often primary caregivers of children and play a leading role in relevant decision-making in the family. The man’s role is supportive, with a focus on providing food and resources to meet family needs.

Two key findings from formative research and field-testing of relevant approaches are that grandmothers and men should be viewed as resources and not as obstacles, and that men are not male women!

Discussion: Small groups discussed opportunities for involving grandmothers and men in their projects, the barriers, and next steps. A lively discussion occurred on how grandmothers and men influence IYCN practices, and participants also shared information on what their projects presently do to involve grandmothers and men. Male participants noted that men are often not included enough in projects that address maternal and child health and nutrition. Other participants noted that sometimes funding is insufficient to work with large numbers of women and children, along with grandmothers and men. There was unanimous agreement to involve grandmothers and men but differing opinions as to how, when, where, and in what project role this should be done.

 

The Way Forward:  The group identified three recommendations:

Processes

• Need for consensus on how much formative research is needed

Donor Policy and Practices

• Funding and human resources to promote the involvement of men and grandmothers
• Increased flexibility from donors to enable us to integrate these approaches into our existing groups