Feeding infants and young children in Kitui county, Kenya


This policy brief summarises key results from a study designed to identify potential interventions to improve nutrition in infants and young children in Kitui County, Kenya. The study was commissioned to provide information necessary for the design of appropriate high-impact nutrition interventions in Kitui to improve nutritional outcomes at the household level.

To assess current practices and identify potential interventions to improve nutrition in infants and young children, researchers used the Focused Ethnographic Study manual and protocols. Each protocol consists of a set of modules to explore a range of issues, including foods for infants and young children, food preparation and feeding practices, sources of food acquisition and food expenditures, types of problems faced by parents of infants and young children, food and nutrition problems of infants and young children, perceptions about health and food, and perceptions about micronutrient supplements and fortification of infant foods.

The results of this report cover context-specific opportunities and limitations for dietary improvement through behaviour change interventions.