Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices and nutritional status under 2 years of age in Bhutan

In South Asia, while childhood undernutrition persists, overweight is gradually becoming common. IYCF practices (e.g., exclusive breastfeeding, timely complementary feeding, diet diversity) promote healthy growth, but little is known about IYCF and their link to children's nutritional status in Bhutan, explored here in data collected during the 2015 Bhutan National Nutrition Survey. In this nationally‐representative survey, household (HH) membership and socioeconomic status (SES), youngest preschool child anthropometry and derived WHO/UNICEF IYCF indicators were assessed. IYCF and anthropometry data were available for 441 children < 24 mo of age. Length‐for‐age (LAZ), weight‐for‐length (WLZ) and weight‐for‐age (WAZ) Z‐scores were derived relative to the WHO reference. 15%, 5% and 12% of children were stunted, wasted and underweight (< −2 Z), respectively, while 6%…