Table 5. Healthcare provider’s knowledge on nutrition topics for counselling pregnant and lactating mothers.

Nutrition topics	ANC providers n = 80	Paediatric service providers	All providers n = 130
		n = 63
	% (Mean ± SD)	% (Mean ± SD)	% (Mean ± SD)
During ANC mothers need to be advised on
Animal source food	85	71.4	79.2
Vitamin A rich foods	71.3	66.7	68.5
Fruits and vegetables	82.5	77.8	59.2
Frequency of food consumption	62.5	61.9	83.8
Iodized Salt	11.3	4.8	10
Iron folic acid supplementation	46.3	57.1	50.8
Calcium supplementation	87.5	84.1	85.4
Early initiation of breastfeeding	48.8	60.3	54.6
Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 m	90	79.4	84.6
Dangers of introducing liquids early	2	0	0.8
Knowledge score (scale 0 to 10)	(5.8 ± 1.5)	(5.6 ± 1.5)	(5.7 ± 1.5)
IYCFa and feeding during illness
Breastfeeding initiation within 1hour of birth	62.5	73	66.9
Exclusive breastfeeding for 6m	100	98.4	99.2
Breastfeed more frequently if baby is not getting enough breast milk	43.8	46	44.6
Mother of a <6 m old should not stop breastfeeding if the mother is ill	95	93.7	96.9
A baby should be breastfed till 24 m	91.3	85.7	89.2
A baby should first receive water or other liquid at 6 m	48.8	47.6	43.8
A baby should start semi-solid food at 6 m	27.5	34.9	26.9
A baby should start animal source foods at 6 m	23.8	27	21.5
A mother should not stop breastfeeding if the child is ill	70	73	73.1
>6 m old child with diarrhoea requires zinc	96.3	96.8	94.6
Knowledge score (scale 0 to 10)	(7.6 ± 1.5)	(7.8 ± 1.5)	(7.6 ± 1.5)

^a IYCF = infant and young child feeding