Complementary feeding means giving foods in addition to breastmilk. Malnutrition can result from suboptimal breastfeeding practices, poor quality complementary foods, detrimental feeding practices, and contamination of complementary food and feeding utensils. The second half of an infant's first year is an especially vulnerable time because infants are learning to eat and must be fed soft foods frequently and patiently. If nutritional intake is inadequate, the consequences persist throughout life.

LINKAGES promoted the introduction of appropriate complementary foods at six months with increased feeding frequency and changes in food consistency, quantity, and diversity as the child ages. LINKAGES emphasized the importance of breastmilk as an important source of energy, protein, and micronutrients during this period. One of LINKAGES' objectives in its country programs was to increase timely complementary feeding among infants 6 through 9 months and to test approaches for improving feeding practices. LINKAGES also worked with international and national partners to promote a set of unified, scientifically based guidelines on complementary feeding and to develop appropriate complementary feeding indicators.

Related Publications and Materials

Facts for Feeding

• Feeding Infants and Young Children During and After Illness View Publication
• Guidelines for Appropriate Complementary Feeding of Breastfed Children 6-24 Months of Age View Publication
• Meeting the Iron Requirements of Infants and Young Children View Publication

Technical Papers

• Developmental Readiness of Normal Full Term Infants to Progress from Exclusive Breastfeeding to the Introduction of Complementary Foods View Publication
• Recommended Feeding and Dietary Practices to Improve Infant and Maternal Nutrition View Publication
• Packaged Foods for Complementary Feeding: Marketing Challenges and Opportunities View Publication

Video

• Care and Feeding of Young Children View Online. You can View the discussion guide which accompanies this video. For the video in Spanish, please visit the FANTA project website.

• Caulfield LE, Huffman SL, Piwoz EG. Interventions to improve intake of complementary foods by infants 6 to 12 months of age in developing countries: Impact on growth and on the prevalence of malnutrition and potential contribution to child survival. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 1999;20(2):183-200.
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• Dearden K, Quan N, Do M, Marsh D, Schroeder D, Pachon H, and Tran L. What influences health behavior? Using elicitation to learn from parents of young children in Vietnam. Child Survival Connections; Fall 2002.
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• Huffman SL, Oniang'o R, Quinn Q. Improving young child feeding with processed complementary cereals and behavioural change in urban Kenya. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 2000;21(1)75-81. Link to journal issue containing this article:
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• Marsh DR, Schroeder DG, editors and Berggren GG, honorary guest editor. The positive deviance approach to improve health outcomes: Experience and evidence from the field. Supplement to the Food and Nutrition Bulletin 2002;23(4) (supplement):3-6. Link to journal supplement with several articles on complementary feeding:
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• Pachon H, Schroeder DG, Marsh DR, Dearden KA, Ha TT, Lang TT. Effect of an integrated child nutrition intervention on the complementary food intake of young children in rural north Viet Nam. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 2002;23(4) (supplement): 59-66. Link to journal supplement with several articles on complementary feeding:
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• Piwoz E, Huffman SL, Quinn V. Promotion and advocacy for improved complementary feeding: Can we apply the lessons learned from breastfeeding? Food and Nutrition Bulletin 2003;24(1) (special issue):29-44.
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