Table 4 Summary of the impact of COVID-19 on maternal and child nutrition and feeding practices
Impact of COVID-19 on nutrition and feeding practices | Supporting Quotes |
|---|---|
Impact on livelihhods, food insecurity and coping strategies | 鈥淏ecause they could not maybe afford to purchase food that is nutritious for children who are 6 months and above and are also themselves mothers, who are pregnant or lactating, they were not able to feed themselves, instead of taking the three or five meals per day they were taking two meals per day, so, they were skipping some meals. Or also some were giving maybe more rations to other children or giving more attention to other children than the others鈥�KII, nutrition officer, BFCI non-implementing urban site 鈥淭he mother has no food to generate breastmilk. Or those who are now on complementary feeds, there鈥檚 no food to eat. What do you eat? So, the baby has not been thriving properly. They are going back to malnutrition. COVID-19 led to job loss; most people were terminated. Like tea pickers in this area lost their jobs because that job is now done by the family e.g., like students who are at home. Now you find that person who lost her job will not achieve good nutrition for the child because she cannot afford to buy things like fruits or other luxury commodities due to lack of money.鈥�KII, food vendor, BFCI non-implementing rural site |
Impact on breastfeeding | 鈥淏ut still others benefited, because for example teachers and workers who were working at home. They were able to breastfeed up to six months, yeah, unlike when they are working you know some lose their babies at three months, so exclusive breastfeeding did well.鈥�KII, nutrition officer, BFCI implementing rural site |