Malnutrition and poor complementary feeding are more predominant in rural than urban areas. Yet, little attention has been given to these discrepancies and the use of validated composite index to explore determinants of complementary feeding practices. Hence, this study was aimed at identifying the determinants of appropriate complementary feeding practices among mothers with children aged 6-23 months in Iseyin, Nigeria.

A community based cross sectional survey involving 390 mother-child dyads was conducted using a three-stage simple random sampling. Information on household sociodemographic characteristics, complementary feeding practices, 24-hour dietary intake and anthropometric characteristics of youngest child in the household were obtained using a semi-structured questionnaire. Complementary feeding indicators and anthropometric indices were estimated using the 2008 World Health Organization recommendations and WHO Anthro, respectively. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression at p<0.05.

Mothers’ mean age was 28.7± 5.6 years, 99.4% were married, and 92.1% attended antenatal care sessions. Mean age of children was 14.5±5.1 months, 56.2% were male and 31.0% were firstborn. Of all the children, 72.3% had timely introduction of complementary food, 17.7% had minimum dietary diversity, 46.9% had minimum meal frequency and 14.9% had minimum acceptable diet. Grains, root and tubers (91.3%) constituted the mostly consumed complementary foods. Overall, only 10.0% of children had appropriate complementary feeding; child's age, birth order and mother's income were determinants of appropriate complementary feeding.

Appropriate complementary feeding practices remain very low and this is influenced by the child's age, birth order and mother's income.