India - pre-lacteal liquids given to infants in western states 2014

This statistic presents the results of a survey among households across west Indian states about the share of infants who were given pre-lacteal liquids in 2013-14. For instance, about 16 percent of newborns were given pre-lacteal liquid in the state of Maharashtra during the survey period.

Distribution of pre-lacteal liquids given to infants across West India in 2014, by state*

Characteristic	Share of infants
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Release date

June 2016

More information

Region

India

Survey time period

November 2013 to May 2014

Number of respondents

105,483 respondents

Special properties

Among rural and urban households across 28 states

Method of interview

Face-to-face interview

Supplementary notes

* According to the source, these figures are for children under five months old.
In India, there is a practice of feeding a baby with some food before the initiation of breastfeeding which is a pre-lacteal feed. The type of pre-lacteal feeds depends on the culture. It may include ghee, honey, sugar, sugar juice, cow/goat milk etc. All pre-lacteal feeds are mainly provided for non- nutritional reasons such as clearing the throat/bowel or thinking that the mother’s milk is insufficient or too heavy for the new born to digest. Pre-lacteal feeds have lesser nutrients and immunological values and often likely to introduce contaminants.

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