Assessment of dietary intakes and feeding practices in children aged 6-23 months in a town in the Northeast region of Argentina.

INTRODUCTION
An adequate quantity and quality of complementary feeding is essential during the first 2 years of life. The objective of this study was to assess dietary intakes and feeding practices in children aged 6-23 months in a town in the Northeast region of Argentina.


POPULATION AND METHODS
Descriptive, crosssectional study (second semester of 2019). Intakes from 24-hour dietary recall interviews conducted among caregivers of children aged 6-23 months were assessed. Data were compared to dietary reference intakes. Feeding practices were assessed as per the World Health Organization's indicators.


RESULTS
A total of 138 children aged 6-23 months were assessed. The mean adequacy ratio of energy and vitamins A, D, and E was below 100% for all ages, whereas the protein adequacy for children aged 7-12 and 13-23 months was 142.8% and 168.1%, respectively. A remarkable number of cases had energy and vitamin A intakes below the estimated average requirement. In relation to feeding practice indicators, 50.8% of infants received a minimum acceptable diet.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a high prevalence of an inadequate level of energy and critical nutrient intake during complementary feeding of the children aged 6-23 months included in the study. Nutritional interventions that promote feeding practices to improve micronutrient intake would be highly important for children's current and future health.