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Heavy agricultural workloads and low crop diversity are strong barriers to improving child feeding practices in the Bolivian Andes

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  • Jones, Andrew D.
  • Cruz Agudo, Yesmina
  • Galway, Lindsay
  • Bentley, Jeffery
  • Pinstrup-Andersen, Per

Abstract

Most nutrition initiatives to date aimed at improving infant and young child feeding (IYCF) have emphasized addressing knowledge gaps through behavior change messaging with less focus on addressing the underlying environmental barriers that may shape these behaviors. This research integrates an analysis of longitudinal dietary data with qualitative data on barriers to improved child feeding to identify the nature and extent of the barriers caregivers face to improving IYCF practices in a farming region of the Bolivian Andes, and to determine the relative influence of these barriers on caregivers' abilities to improve IYCF practices. Sixty-nine caregivers were selected from a sample of 331 households that participated in a longitudinal survey assessing changes in IYCF practices among caregivers with children aged 0–36 months from March 2009 to March 2010. Forty-nine barriers within 12 categories of barriers were identified through semi-structured interviews with the 69 caregivers. The most frequently reported barriers were those related to women's time dedicated to agricultural labor, the limited diversity of household agricultural production, and lack of support for child feeding from spouses and mothers-in-law. In multivariate analyses controlling for several variables that could potentially influence IYCF practices, these barriers were negatively associated with changes to the diversity of child diets, child dietary energy intake, and child meal frequency. While knowledge gaps and individual-level influences affected IYCF practices, physical and social caregiving environments in this region of Bolivia were even more important. Behavior change communication alone will likely not address the social and environmental barriers to improved child feeding that often prevent translation of improved knowledge into action. Particularly in rural regions, agriculture may strongly influence child feeding, not only indirectly through household food security, but also directly by affecting women's caregiving capacity.

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  • Jones, Andrew D. & Cruz Agudo, Yesmina & Galway, Lindsay & Bentley, Jeffery & Pinstrup-Andersen, Per, 2012. "Heavy agricultural workloads and low crop diversity are strong barriers to improving child feeding practices in the Bolivian Andes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(9), pages 1673-1684.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:75:y:2012:i:9:p:1673-1684
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.06.025
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    4. Dury, S. & Alpha, A. & Bichard, A., 2014. "What risks do agricultural interventions entail for nutrition?," Working Papers MoISA 201403, UMR MoISA : Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (social and nutritional sciences): CIHEAM-IAMM, CIRAD, INRAE, L'Institut Agro, Montpellier SupAgro, IRD - Montpellier, France.
    5. Mutiso, Janet Mwende, 2017. "Assessment Of Factors Influencing Women’S Behaviour Towards Maternal, Infant And Young Child Feeding In Homa Bay County, Kenya," Research Theses 276441, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    6. Seungheon Han & Heeyeon Kim & Yoonho Cho & Md. Mezanur Rahman & Yunhee Kang, 2022. "Facilitators, barriers, and perceived changes of a social behaviour change nutrition programme and economic development programme in rural Bangladesh: A qualitative study," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 3-28, January.
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    8. Ruel, Marie T. & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Balagamwala, Mysbah, 2017. "Nutrition-sensitive agriculture: What have we learned and where do we go from here?," IFPRI discussion papers 1681, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Mysbah Balagamwala & Haris Gazdar & Hussain Bux Mallah, 2015. "Synergy or Trade-Off between Agricultural Growth and Nutrition Women’s Work and Care," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 54(4), pages 897-913.
    10. Jones, Andrew D. & Shrinivas, Aditya & Bezner-Kerr, Rachel, 2014. "Farm production diversity is associated with greater household dietary diversity in Malawi: Findings from nationally representative data," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 1-12.
    11. Steven J. Vanek & Andrew D. Jones & Laurie E. Drinkwater, 2016. "Coupling of soil regeneration, food security, and nutrition outcomes in Andean subsistence agroecosystems," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(4), pages 727-742, August.
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    13. Sara Stevano & Suneetha Kadiyala & Deborah Johnston & Hazel Malapit & Elizabeth Hull & Sofia Kalamatianou, 2019. "Time-Use Analytics: An Improved Way of Understanding Gendered Agriculture-Nutrition Pathways," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 1-22, July.

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