Fed Family Lab

Understanding Feeding in the Early Years

Project Overview

The aim of this research project is to better understand how food insecurity shapes how babies are fed in families with young children in Nova Scotia. The overall objective of the research is to learn from non-breastfeeding caregivers about feeding and use their stories, along with what we know about breastfeeding and food insecurity, to develop, test, and pilot a new survey tool on infant food insecurity in Nova Scotia. The results of the research will inform health equity policy and best practice recommendations for caregivers to support the conditions necessary for optimal infant feeding.

There are 3 phases to the project:

PHASE I

Qualitative semi-structured interviews with food insecure caregivers in Nova Scotia to explore non-breastfeeding practices and information seeking regarding non-breast infant feeding

PHASE II

Survey design process, pre-test and collaboration with caregivers

PHASE III

We developed an infant feeding online survey for caregivers of children 0-24 months in Nova Scotia

Reports

The Fed Family Lab has published two reports summarizing key findings from Understanding Feeding in the Early Years. The first report, entitled, Understanding Feeding in the Early Years: Infant Feeding in Nova Scotia provides broader insights into how respondents fed their infants.

The second report, Understanding Feeding in the Early Years: Access to Infant Feeding Information, provides insight into if and where respondents received information about infant feeding practices. This report provides a snapshot of the 2022 survey data related to household food security status, infant feeding practices, and access to infant feeding information. Both reports can be viewed below.

Publications

Francis, J., Mildon, A., Tarasuk, V., & Frank, L. (2024). Household food insecurity is negatively associated with achievement of prenatal intentions to feed only breast milk in the first six months postpartum. Frontiers in Nutrition, 11. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2024.1287347

This research project is funded by: