Kyrgyzstan

Project Name: Complementary Feeding Project

Start Date: July 2007

Background

In Kyrgyzstan, the national prevalence of growth stunting in children younger than  5 years of age is 13.7%; for some regions, the prevalence is as high as almost 30%.¹ Additional evidence shows that the prevalence of anemia is 50% or higher in children and approximately 38% in women. Preliminary qualitative research reported a very low prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding.  An indicator for good health is to exclusively breastfeed an infant for the first 6 months of life.² To address these problems, the country office of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) collaborated with the Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Health (MOH) to develop a community-based program to improve micronutrient status by improving nutrition during pregnancy, breastfeeding habits, and the frequency of complementary feeding.

The CDC is assisting the Kyrgyzstan government and its partners in designing the project and the monitoring and evaluation system as well as in building capacity to carry out nutrition surveys. 

Purposes

The project has the following purposes–

• Implement a pilot version of a community-based nutrition program focused on improving:
  • Nutrition during pregnancy.
  • Breastfeeding habits.
  • Use of complementary feeding, including education in the proper use of micronutrient powders.
• Develop a monitoring and evaluation system for the pilot program.

Target Group(s)

The target groups consist of the following populations:

• Children 6 to 24 months of age and their mothers and grandmothers
• Pregnant and lactating women and their families

Progress

Progress has been made in the following areas:

• A representative nutrition survey has been conducted in one Kyrgyzstan region.
• A draft of the monitoring and evaluation plan has been completed.
• A draft of the report from the survey has been completed.
• Preliminary planning for a nationally representative survey has been completed.

Future Plans

Future plans include the following activities:

• Use results from the nationally representative nutrition survey to increase support for implementing the nutrition program at the national level.
• Use data collected from the pilot program monitoring system to modify the program for implementation at the national level. 

Partners

The CDC works with the following partners on this project:

• Ministry of Health, Kyrgyzstan
• Swiss Red Cross
• United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

References

1. Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006, Kyrgyz Republic. Final Report. National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic. United Nations Children's Fund. Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek. Table NU.1: Child malnourishment; 2007.
2. Research Institute of Obstetrics and Pediatrics [Kyrgyz Republic] and Macro International Inc. Kyrgyz Republic Demographic and Health Survey, 1997. Calverton, Maryland: Research Institute of Obstetrics and Pediatrics, Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic and Macro International Inc.; 1998.

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