Once tested and adapted, the next phase will be for the PVO partners to replicate this approach or aspects of it more broadly in their programs, with the potential of reaching 10 million people in India by 2005. Fifty-three percent exclusively breastfeed infants under six months of age.
Many mothers introduce liquids too early and soft foods too late.
The complementary foods that they do receive are poor in quality and inadequate in quantity. More than 63 percent of pregnant women interviewed said that some or all of the colostrum-rich first milk should be discarded. Seventy-two percent thought that they should eat less during pregnancy, but 90 percent recognized the need for more food during lactation. The study revealed that pregnant and lactating women were receiving less than 50 percent of the recommended daily caloric intake. At these centers, CARE teaches mothers how they can safeguard their families health and distributes food commodities for pregnant and lactating women and older infants and young children.