Social Norms and Child Feeding Practices: What Do We Know?

Social norms—the unstated rules that govern behavior in society and determine what is acceptable or taboo—are one of many influences on child feeding behaviors. Norms often specify what young children should eat, as well as how, when, and by whom young children should be fed. There is growing interest in how social norms affect nutrition and health outcomes, yet few practitioners routinely measure the influence of social norms on complementary feeding behaviors or design programs to amplify supportive norms or shift harmful ones. This is a missed opportunity to address communal influences on behavior, and the social aspect of social and behavior change interventions.

Join USAID Advancing Nutrition for this webinar to hear examples of social norms relevant to complementary feeding practices, intervention approaches used to address norms, and the impacts of these interventions on social norms and child feeding outcomes. Presenters will also share first-hand experiences with interventions and research featuring a norms-responsive approach in Malawi and Cambodia.