title: Effect of peer counselling by mother support groups on infant and young child feeding practices: the Lalitpur experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our primary objective was to evaluate the effect of peer counselling by mother support groups (MSG's) in improving the infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices in the community.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted this repeated-measure before and after study in the Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh, India between 2006 and 2011. We assessed the IYCF practices before and after creating MSG's within the community. The feeding practices were reassessed at two time points-2 (T1) and 5 years (T2) after the intervention and compared with that of the pre-intervention phase (T0).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The total population covered by the project from the time of its initiation was 105000. A total of 425 (T0), 480 (T1) and 521 (T2) mother infant pairs were selected from this population. There was significant improvement in the following IYCF practices in the community (represented as %; adjOR (95% CI, p) such as initiation of breast feeding within 1 hour at both T1 (71% vs. 11%); 19.6 (13.6, 28.2, p =  <0.0001)and T2 (62% vs. 11%); 13.3 (9.4, 18.9, p =  <0.0001); use of prelacteal feeds at both T1 (67% vs. 15%); 12.6 (CI: 9.0, 17.6, p<0.0001) and T2 (67% vs. 5%); 44.4 (28.8, 68.4, p = <0.0001); rates of exclusive breast feeding for 6 months at both T1 (50% vs. 7%); 13.6 (7.6, 25.0, p =  <0.0001) and T2 (60% vs. 7%); 20.5 (11.3, 37.2, p =  <0.0001); initiation of complementary feeding at T1 (85% vs. 54%); 5.6 (3.6, 8.7, p =  <0.0001) and T2 (96% vs. 54%); 22.9 (11.8, 44.1, p =  <0.0001) and complementary feeding along with continued breast feeding at both T1 (36% vs. 4.5%); 6 (1.15, 31.4, p = 0.033) and T2 (42% vs. 4.5%); 8.06 (1.96, 49.1, p = 0.005) as compared to pre-intervention period (T0) after adjusting for important social and demographic variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Peer counseling by MSG's improved the IYCF practices in the district and could be sustained.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, India.
authors.forename: Komal P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Kushwaha
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, AIIMS, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Jhuma
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sankar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, AIIMS, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: M Jeeva
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sankar
authors.affiliation: IBFAN Asia, BP-33, Pitampura, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Arun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: BPNI, BP-33, Pitampura, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dadhich
authors.affiliation: YG Consultants Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Y P
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, India.
authors.forename: Girish C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Bhatt
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, India.
authors.forename: Dilshad A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Ansari
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, India.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003376:Counseling; D003710:Demography; D005248:Feeding Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D055815:Young Adult