Abstract
Background and Objectives: The weaning process from the breast milk to intake of other foods and drinks, during infancy is a very crucial stage whereby a child is vulnerable to malnourishment should proper feeding practices not be put into practice. This work was essentially important to assess the prevalence and associated factors of appropriate complementary feeding practice among infants aged from 6-24 months in Hargeisa, Republic of Somaliland 2024. .
Methods: A descriptive cross- sectional study was carried out among the primary health facilities in Hargeisa. The multistage sampling approach was very used and recruited 370 mother-and-child pairs. The data collection was done through the pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaire with the WHO infant and young children feeding indicators (IYCF) IBM SPSS version 23 was employed to go into and encode quantitative data. data was presented in descriptive statistics using tables and figures by computing the frequencies and percentages of Appropriate complementary feeding practices, Bivariate logistic regression analyses was done to identify candidate variables for adjusted regression at p-values of <0.05 and multivariable logistic regression were presented as p-value <0.05 with Adjusted Odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals. All tests were two sided to determine statistical significance
Results: The analysis revealed that the overall prevalence of appropriate complementary feeding practices was 46%. While Unemployed mothers were more likely to practice ACFP compared to employed ones (AOR=3.5, 95% CI: 2.15-5.69, p<0.001). Larger families (≥5 members) exhibited higher adherence to ACFP (AOR=4.193, 95% CI: 2.650-6.634, p<0.001). Avoiding bottle feeding (AOR=2.907, 95% CI: 1.88-4.49, p<0.001), maintaining good WASH and hygiene status (AOR=4.488, 95% CI: 2.86-7.05, p<0.001), achieving adequate dietary diversity (AOR=0.032, 95% CI: 0.05-0.068, p<0.001), meeting the minimum acceptable diet (AOR=0.012, 95% CI: 0.005-0.027, p<0.001), and timely introduction of complementary foods at 6 months (AOR=2.504, 95% CI: 1.636-3.832, p<0.001) were all significantly associated with higher ACFP adherence. These findings underscore the importance of addressing socio-demographic and dietary factors to improve infant feeding practices in the community.
Conclusion and Global Health Implications: The research revealed that problematic complementary feeding practices were in the high cases. Measurement of composite indices showed a qualitative picture of these various practices and their components, understanding the diverse manifestations of complementary feeding. This information may be very indispensable to obtain targeted interventions aimed at improving the complementary feeding practices in this community.